New Primary 1 registration rule for children living near school

SINGAPORE — Children who secure a place for Primary 1 next year based on the proximity of their homes and the school will have to stay at the address until they finish Primary Two, according a new ruling by the Ministry of Education.

When the demand exceeds the vacancies available at a school, priority is given first to children who live within 1km of the school, followed by those who live between 1 and 2 km, and lastly to those who are more than 2km away, according to MOE’s website.

This application phase comes after priority admission based on citizenship, where Singapore citizens will get places in the school first, then permanent residents.

“The home-school distance category priority has always been given with the expectation that the family will reside at the address declared for the P1 registration exercise, as it is for the convenience and interest of the child,” an MOE spokesperson said in a statement.

But a housing analyst said yesterday (May 25) this is not always the case.

“There are people who simply just rent a place, get the address and then they register the child. After they get a place, they vacate. This is an abuse of the system and I believe MOE is coming up with this new policy to stop all this abuse,” said Mr Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer of ERA Realty.

For parents who have secured a place for their child in Primary 1 next year because of their home’s proximity to the school, they will have to stay at the declared address for at least 30 months from the start of the registration exercise on July 2 .

Parents whom Channel NewsAsia spoke with had mixed reactions to the new regulation.

“They may not necessarily move just because they want to go to that school, maybe they want a change of environment or they feel that the environment is better for their kids,” said Ms Goh Bee Yen, the parent of a Primary 3 student. “Thirty months is a bit like punishing the parent. I think less than two years would be good.”

But Ms Goh Xiuli, whose daughter is in Primary 4, said: “To me it’s quite all right to have this ruling. It’s like everyone has a fair chance of going to the school, not just because you can afford to buy certain houses near the school, then you have the priority.”

“I think it’s good because it closes the gaps which let people misuse this priority scheme. But I still think that maybe it could be tighter, in a way, because how are you going to check whether they really adhere to this rule or not?” added Ms Goh Bee Ling, who has a three-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter.

MOE said if the new regulation is not met, it reserves the right to transfer the child to another school with vacancies. This is because priority admission was given, based on the declared address during registration.

Mr Lim said the impact may be felt more in the rental market, as parents could look for leases that last beyond the typical two years, which as a result could also lead to higher rentals.

“Typically rentals run for two years. I believe most would be looking at negotiating perhaps for longer leases, which means that there is also a possibility that landlords will take this opportunity to price that in, to lock in the rentals at a higher rate,” he said.

MOE said the eligibility for the registration phases for the 2015 P1 registration exercise is unchanged from last year. CHANNEL NEWSASIA