Primary 1 registration exercises - game changer

[abbby]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

[NYY1]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

I think the shock is going to be if/when a lot of schools start balloting 1-2 km in 2A (Nan Hua Primary only had spots for SC < 2 km this year, most others still ballot > 2 km).

2B has always ballot < 1 km for the really popular schools, but the shift to split the seats after 2A 1/3 : 2/3 (instead of 50:50) squeezed a few (mission related and SHHK). There were also some changes to the GRL rules for 2B, which may have pushed people to move closer.

[abbby]

Yes precisely, with the merging of 2A, seems like teachers with children are at a disadvantage..their children might not get in the school they teach. Phase 2A has really changed a lot in the last 1-2 years. Notably this year..I think many would also be staying within 1 km of the school which would then be ballot to decide. Even Alumnus doesn't mean you get in this time..(used to be quite certain alumnus stood high chances previously)

[Lisafuller]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

This certainly changes things. Back in the day quite a few parents would deliberately buy close to the school, where they ended up settling depended on where they want their child to be educated. That’s part of the reason why we ended up in Bukit Timah, because we wanted our child to be enrolled into RGPS. Even that wasn’t enough though, we had to do several hours of volunteer service. Seems like it’ll only get harder now.

[Lisafuller]

Yes precisely, with the merging of 2A, seems like teachers with children are at a disadvantage..their children might not get in the school they teach. Phase 2A has really changed a lot in the last 1-2 years. Notably this year..I think many would also be staying within 1 km of the school which would then be ballot to decide. Even Alumnus doesn't mean you get in this time..(used to be quite certain alumnus stood high chances previously)

That’s pretty bad, any idea why they’ve made these changes?

[Lisafuller]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

I think the shock is going to be if/when a lot of schools start balloting 1-2 km in 2A (Nan Hua Primary only had spots for SC < 2 km this year, most others still ballot > 2 km).

2B has always ballot < 1 km for the really popular schools, but the shift to split the seats after 2A 1/3 : 2/3 (instead of 50:50) squeezed a few (mission related and SHHK). There were also some changes to the GRL rules for 2B, which may have pushed people to move closer.

What’s SHHK?

[NYY1]

Yes precisely, with the merging of 2A, seems like teachers with children are at a disadvantage..their children might not get in the school they teach. Phase 2A has really changed a lot in the last 1-2 years. Notably this year..I think many would also be staying within 1 km of the school which would then be ballot to decide. Even Alumnus doesn't mean you get in this time..(used to be quite certain alumnus stood high chances previously)

That’s pretty bad, any idea why they’ve made these changes?

I think a) they added 20 seats to 2C (from 20 to 40), and this was going to cause more schools to ballot in 2A1 or 2A2 (some may have no vacancy in 2A2), and b) MOE Kindy was in 2A2 (they didn't want these people to be squeeze out, although most really popular schools don't have MOE Kindy).

The reduced seats have hurt everyone in 2A. I think it has helped the teachers (move from 2A2 to 2A), and the alumni that hadn't joined their association (also move from 2A2 to 2A). For the latter, many were likely > 2 km though, and they are at risk of getting pushed out if everyone tries to move < 2 km to avoid balloting.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-relea ... pen-to-all

[NYY1]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

This certainly changes things. Back in the day quite a few parents would deliberately buy close to the school, where they ended up settling depended on where they want their child to be educated. That’s part of the reason why we ended up in Bukit Timah, because we wanted our child to be enrolled into RGPS. Even that wasn’t enough though, we had to do several hours of volunteer service. Seems like it’ll only get harder now.

Interestingly, RGPS is somewhat of a unique case. It has had no balloting in 2B in recent years (either PV or GRL) and with the exception of 2020 2C does not have balloting < 1 km (likely due to the low density housing in the area). For a GEP centre, this is an outlier.

But in general, it has only gotten harder and harder...

[NYY1]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

I think the shock is going to be if/when a lot of schools start balloting 1-2 km in 2A (Nan Hua Primary only had spots for SC < 2 km this year, most others still ballot > 2 km).

2B has always ballot < 1 km for the really popular schools, but the shift to split the seats after 2A 1/3 : 2/3 (instead of 50:50) squeezed a few (mission related and SHHK). There were also some changes to the GRL rules for 2B, which may have pushed people to move closer.

What’s SHHK?

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. Primary Schools include Tao Nan (GEP, SAP), Ai Tong (SAP), Kong Hwa (SAP), Chongfu, and Nan Chiau. There is also Nan Chiau High School (SAP, Secondary), but it does not have affiliation to Nan Chiau Primary.

[Lisafuller]

I think the shock is going to be if/when a lot of schools start balloting 1-2 km in 2A (Nan Hua Primary only had spots for SC < 2 km this year, most others still ballot > 2 km).

2B has always ballot < 1 km for the really popular schools, but the shift to split the seats after 2A 1/3 : 2/3 (instead of 50:50) squeezed a few (mission related and SHHK). There were also some changes to the GRL rules for 2B, which may have pushed people to move closer.

What’s SHHK?

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. Primary Schools include Tao Nan (GEP, SAP), Ai Tong (SAP), Kong Hwa (SAP), Chongfu, and Nan Chiau. There is also Nan Chiau High School (SAP, Secondary), but it does not have affiliation to Nan Chiau Primary.

Ah, got it.

[Lisafuller]

A lot has changed over the last 10 years on subscription rates and chances of getting in..of cos with some tweaking of exercise criteria by MOE as well. The most recent 2022 registration exercise is quite a game changer, Phase 2A and 2B already sees so many schools balloting, so it's no longer how close you live to the school...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... oe-2829261

This certainly changes things. Back in the day quite a few parents would deliberately buy close to the school, where they ended up settling depended on where they want their child to be educated. That’s part of the reason why we ended up in Bukit Timah, because we wanted our child to be enrolled into RGPS. Even that wasn’t enough though, we had to do several hours of volunteer service. Seems like it’ll only get harder now.

Interestingly, RGPS is somewhat of a unique case. It has had no balloting in 2B in recent years (either PV or GRL) and with the exception of 2020 2C does not have balloting < 1 km (likely due to the low density housing in the area). For a GEP centre, this is an outlier.

But in general, it has only gotten harder and harder...

The housing point is really important. The school is in Hillcrest, so there really isn’t a lot of housing, certainly not any non-land properties so living within 1 km would be very difficult for most, and would alienate most of the Singaporean population.

[Lisafuller]

Yes precisely, with the merging of 2A, seems like teachers with children are at a disadvantage..their children might not get in the school they teach. Phase 2A has really changed a lot in the last 1-2 years. Notably this year..I think many would also be staying within 1 km of the school which would then be ballot to decide. Even Alumnus doesn't mean you get in this time..(used to be quite certain alumnus stood high chances previously)

That’s pretty bad, any idea why they’ve made these changes?

I think a) they added 20 seats to 2C (from 20 to 40), and this was going to cause more schools to ballot in 2A1 or 2A2 (some may have no vacancy in 2A2), and b) MOE Kindy was in 2A2 (they didn't want these people to be squeeze out, although most really popular schools don't have MOE Kindy).

The reduced seats have hurt everyone in 2A. I think it has helped the teachers (move from 2A2 to 2A), and the alumni that hadn't joined their association (also move from 2A2 to 2A). For the latter, many were likely > 2 km though, and they are at risk of getting pushed out if everyone tries to move < 2 km to avoid balloting.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-relea ... pen-to-all

Wow, these are a ton of changes. Honestly I can’t imagine what inspired them though, nothing much has changed in the last few years.

[NYY1]

That’s pretty bad, any idea why they’ve made these changes?

I think a) they added 20 seats to 2C (from 20 to 40), and this was going to cause more schools to ballot in 2A1 or 2A2 (some may have no vacancy in 2A2), and b) MOE Kindy was in 2A2 (they didn't want these people to be squeeze out, although most really popular schools don't have MOE Kindy).

The reduced seats have hurt everyone in 2A. I think it has helped the teachers (move from 2A2 to 2A), and the alumni that hadn't joined their association (also move from 2A2 to 2A). For the latter, many were likely > 2 km though, and they are at risk of getting pushed out if everyone tries to move < 2 km to avoid balloting.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-relea ... pen-to-all

Wow, these are a ton of changes. Honestly I can’t imagine what inspired them though, nothing much has changed in the last few years.

I don't think it's accurate to say nothing much has changed. Over the past few years there had been an increase in 2A1 and 2A2 registrations to the point where some schools were balloting in 2A1. This squeezed the subsequent phases (2B and 2C), and there was a complaint that those living nearby cannot even get a spot (of course, for the very popular schools there will never be enough spots no matter what they do). Additionally, MOE Kindy has been ramping up and this was going to add to the number of 2A2 registrations in future years.

While primary school registration has always been important to many, it (or more specifically the pursuit of certain schools) seems to be attracting more and more people every year.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapo ... on-2142121

[malcontent]

And it’s made worse by the continuing reduction in the number seats available…

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/comment ... nos-219886

Is this supposed to inspire more babies?

[NYY1]

And it’s made worse by the continuing reduction in the number seats available…

Yes and no. There is and there have always been more seats available than the number of (SC + PR) students that need to register in any given year. The issue is that everyone is trying to pile in to a select number of schools.

I think most of the closures or mergers have to do with estates/areas that no longer have a large number of young children (in close proximity). The intake at certain hot schools has also been managed down in some years due to declining births, etc.