P1 Registration 2013 for 2014 Intake
The annual P1 registration exercise spells nightmares for most parents unless you belong to one of the lucky groups. One being you have already registered your elder child in your choice school and want your child to attend the same school.
The other group being you are a member of an alumni of your choice school and you intend to register your child there. Any other scenario, you are most likely going to face tough competition and balloting.
Having experienced unsuccessfully registering Jarod at a reasonably popular school where we lived less than 1 km away 8 years ago at Phase 2C, we have to remind ourselves that we should not go through it again. At that time, it was still paper ballot era and there was no priority whatsoever given to Singapore citizens. It also didn’t matter that we had 67% chance of success. We almost had to go through balloting at Phase 2CS and were relieved that there were finally an exact number of applicants for the number of vacancies at the end of the phase. Totally nerve racking!
This is the year that we will have to register Ashley for P1 next year. Most people would have thought that it would be a no-brainer affair for us since I am an alumni of a top girls’ school. Ashley would be able to secure a place at Phase 2A at that coveted school. While we were undecided whether we should let her go back to my alma mater, we were also not certain if we can register her at another school nearer to our residence without balloting. We are staying in the east and my alma mater will be moving to a temporary location in the west for upgrading of school compound for 2 years. To add to the woes, the school will be operating at afternoon session for the lower primary students. This will mean that it will take at least 75 minutes for her to reach home in the evening by car. Yes, we actually tried driving home from the temporary location using both AYE and PIE and they yield similar results. We also spoke to several parents with girls in the school as we have heard about the extremely competitive environment. We feel that Ashley will not thrive in such environment coupled with spending 2 hours on the road each day and double that for the mummy driver.
We have been monitoring the registration statistics of 3 other girls’ school nearer to our residence and were hoping that we can successfully register her in one of the three. All these schools have an affiliation to their respective secondary schools. Having gone through PSLE with Jarod back in 2011, we can truly appreciate the value of affiliation as it will take away so much stress and anxiety during the exams. Jarod did not have an affiliated school to go to. He will have to work very hard to achieve those 3 magical numbers called T score to enable him to get to his dream school. While we favoured one of the schools slightly further away, it is known to enter balloting every year. Time and again, we reminded ourselves that we should not let a ping pong ball determine the fate of our little girl and us. So we shifted our focus to another fairly reputable school which is extremely near to Jarod’s school. Logistically, it is perfect for us as we can send both of them together in the same direction.
At the start of Phase 2A, we headed to my alma mater and registered Ashley as we were not sure if we can register her without balloting at our other choice school. We will then monitor the situation at Phase 2C, withdraw her from my alma mater and then register her there should it be safe to do so. This requires positioning one parent at one school each and so like our prime minister termed – it becomes like a military operation. We also crossed our fingers and hoped that there will be no problem with our mobile network.
We looked at the numbers published on MOE website at dismay after each and every phase. And yes, we have seen a fair share of parents doing whatever it takes to get their children into their choice schools. Be it renting an apartment within 1 km radius, volunteering their services as parent volunteer, devote their time to be grassroot leaders and also resorting to using address of acquaintances. It is also ironic that we witnessed a friend being balloted in with only a 17% chance while another being balloted out with a 75% chance.
On the final afternoon of Phase 2C, we made our way to my alma mater. After checking with the staff that ZA’s original IC would not be needed for the withdrawal purpose, he proceeded on to our choice school while I continued to station here. On the way there, he received call from a friend whom had agreed to help us check out the statistics in the meantime that there were quite a number of applicants since the start of the afternoon session. Our hearts began to pound faster as we do not stay within 2 km of the school.
Once ZA reached the school, he proceeded to fill up all the required documents and the admin was also very kind to check through all the attached documents. We wanted to wait out for as long as we could before making our moves. Together with another parent, ZA surveyed the situation and made manual calculations on the number as they did not have real time updates there. His wife was also stationed at another school ready to do a withdrawal.
While I was at my alma mater, I was talking to many other parents in the same boat as ZA there, trying to make sure that they could get in. My presence was very much welcomed as it would mean an additional vacancy should we decide to withdraw. During the 2 hours there, I had to answer many times why I might want to withdraw my girl from this school when they are all trying to get in. Some had such unbelieving looks and thought I was crazy. However, we did not for once doubted our decision – not unless we cannot get her into the other school. On the other hand, I have already filled up the withdrawal form and was just waiting for further updates.
Finally at 4.10 pm, ZA called to confirm it was safe to do so. I had to withdraw before he can register our girl. I proceeded to the admin counter to submit my withdrawal. The whole process lasted less than 5 minutes. The parents there applauded at the increase of 1 precious vacancy. When I called ZA after the withdrawal, he said the wait felt like eternity, it must have been the longest 5 minutes for him. As the clock struck 4.30 pm. the session ended and yes our girl got in! Only PRs would have to ballot.
At my alma mater, it was also a happy situation with a few other withdrawals, all parents within 1 to 2 km were successfully registered without the need for balloting. For the past few years, balloting was required even for those who resided within 1 km.
We are looking forward to our girl starting her next learning journey at our school of choice.