You volunteer to give your child a better chance???

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

SINGAPORE: Alumni and clan associations are hoping that the new criteria for Primary One registration, announced at the National Day Rally, will push parents to take an active part in school activities.

Under the current system, parents who are alumni members of a school are given some priority in their school of choice under Phase 2A (1).

So too, a parent who is a member of a clan or church directly connected to the school. They come under Phase 2B.

But from next year, each primary school will have to set aside 40 places during the Phase 2B and 2C registration process, for pupils who have no prior connections to a school.


This will result in fewer places for those with alumni ties.


The extra places will be split equally between phases 2B and 2C. Phase 2B is for a child whose parent is an active school volunteer, or who is an active community leader, while Phase 2C is for a child who is not yet registered at a school.


Those we spoke with said the change should give schools and their partners a chance to review the current criteria, for parents with alumni or clan and church associations, so they are not simply card-carrying members but active contributors to the schools.


This could be in terms of participation hours or the quality of contributions.


Lim Teng Sherng, president of the Alumni Association at Catholic High School, said: "Moving forward, we want to use this opportunity to perhaps foster a sense of unity, a sense of identity, a sense of contribution towards the alumni.


"So I think it's not just about the quantity. We'd also like to look at the quality of alumni, old boys joining us. I think overall, it would in fact be positive for us as an alumni association."


Vice-chairman of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan's Education Committee, Adrian Peh, said: "Over the past few years, we have averaged about four or five hundred new members and increasingly, we see a lot more active members because as part of this P1 registration exercise, we do also take into account the volunteer hours put in by our members.


"So we do encourage members to volunteer in Huay Kuan's activities or to help out in the schools."


But even with the hours put in, Mr Peh said the clan's message to parents is that there is still no guarantee to their school of choice.


He said: "I think a lot of parents have this misconception that once you join Huay Kuan, automatically you will be recommended and get a place in our affiliated schools. Over the years, we try to manage this expectation.


"Becoming a member does not automatically get you a recommendation or registration for P1 under our affiliated primary school. Secondly, even if you get a recommendation, it does not mean your child will be guaranteed a place."

- CNA/al


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.