Children of parent volunteers deserve equal chance in Phase 2C

The writer in “Balloting system unfair to those who qualify only for Phase 2C” (Aug 16) questioned why parent volunteers and those who have contributed actively to the community expect a favour to be returned.

These parents spent time contributing in whatever capacity they could. Even then, this does not guarantee their children a place at the school. It gives them only a chance to register their children in an earlier phase. They made an effort to increase their children’s chances of registering successfully at a school of their choice. They are not expecting a favour in return.

A few years ago, a parent who spent 100 hours volunteering at a school (the minimum requirement is 40 hours) was the only one whose child was not registered under Phase 2B when a ballot was required. Does one tell her that her efforts had gone down the drain and her child did not deserve an equal chance to then get placed in Phase 2C?

I recognise that not all parents without a school affiliation are able to contribute their time. But I know of parents who make no effort to increase their children’s registration chances.

They should then not lament that they lose out to those from earlier phases. And schools that have scrapped their parent volunteer scheme should share the reasons for doing so.

Instead of nitpicking phase by phase, perhaps revamping the system to one based on balloting, except Phase 1, would be fairer than one based mainly on affiliation.

As to whether balloting should be conducted for those who live within 500m, 1km or 2km of a school, that would be another round of debate.