Govt should revamp Pri 1 registration system

The faults in the Primary 1 registration system have accumulated and compounded over the years, culminating in the mushrooming of elite schools (“Different phases of Pri 1 registration system based on different affiliations”; April 4).

The solutions taken to date have been piecemeal and inadequate; the crux of the problem remains. The Government should take the courageous but necessary step to revamp the registration system entirely.

Pri 1 allocations should be made centrally, based on considerations critical to Singapore’s long-term interests, such as ensuring that pupil populations reflect a healthy racial mix and comprise enough children from different strata.

There would also be practical factors such as home-school distance and the convenience of having siblings in the same school.

Each of these considerations would have a certain weightage, which would not be disclosed publicly and would be subject to change periodically by policymakers, dependent on macro and micro factors.

Placements made by an independent authority with no vested interest would be a fair system.