January 16, 2010
According to a tip off we received from a reader, a PRC woman
has been staging a solo “protest” at the Ministry of Education
Headquarters at Buona Vista for the last two days to demand that
MOE transfer her child to a top primary school in Singapore.
“The lady has been coming to MOE HQ at Buona Vista for the
past 2 days, arriving at 8am daily and refusing to budge from the
customer service centre. During her stay in the customer service
centre from 8am – 6pm she continues to wail, scream and shout with
full theatrics!!! Despite, officers trying to reason with
her,” our source wrote.
MOE has already offered to place her child in another school in
the vicinity she lives in, but she continues to insist that she be
given a place in the school of her choice.
She was reported to be in the MOE building till 12 midnight last
night and only left after the police threatened her with arress if
she continues to loiter in a government building.
Her husband is a lecturer in a leading research agency in
Singapore and despite his numerous attempts to talk reason with his
wife, she has staunchly refused to back down.
The issue of foreigners including PRs competing
with citizens for limited primary school places is a point of
contention for many Singaporeans, prompting the Ministry of
Education to allocate an additional ballot to locals starting from
2010 to soothe frayed nerves.
Balloting is done when the number of applications is more than
the available vacancies. In popular schools, Singapore citizens
often have to compete with PRs for a place which led many to vent
their frustration on the government for not looking after the
interests of citizens first.
However, some Singaporeans remain skeptical about the initiative
to mark a “clearer distinction” between citizens and PRs that it
will only serve to encourage more PRs to take up Singapore
citizenships.
Furthermore, the higher chance offered by the additional ballot
will be diluted in the face of rising numbers of foreigners coming
to Singapore.
Due to the ruling party’s liberal immigration policies,
foreigners now make up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up
from 14 per cent in 1990.
Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen admitted lately that 10 per
cent of primary one enrollment are PRs. The percentage will be
higher if foreigners are included.
Unlike some other first world countries, primary school
education is not free for citizens and as such there have been
cases of Singaporeans who are unable to attend school because of
financial constraints which spurred The Straits Times to set up a
“School Pocket Money Fund” in 2000 to help needy students.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/01/16/prc-woman-staged-solo-protest-at-moe-hq-to-transfer-daughter-to-a-top-singapore-school/
