The recent move by the Ministry of Education to give an
additional ballot to Singapore citizens in application for primary
school places has won it much public approval and support.
In the past, PRs are able to compete directly with Singapore
citizens for place via the Phase 1C scheme which has caused
alot of resentment and anger on the ground.
The state media is quick to praise the government for making a
clearer distinction between citizens and PRs without asking the
fundamental question on why PRs are allowed to compete with
citizens for coveted places in schools in the first place.
The additional ballot only gives Singaporeans a higher chance of
getting into a school of their choice, but is likely to be diluted
with the increasing number of PRs and new citizens.
So long as the government’s underlying liberal immigration
policy remains unchanged, Singaporeans will forever have to fight
with these newcomers for school places.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are over 90,000
PRs and 20,000 new citizens last year. Given that there are few
good schools to go around, the demand is going to far exceed the
supply soon.
To the Singaporean who has to compete with more and more PRs, an
extra ballot is nothing more than scant consolation. If one still
fail to ballot for a place, then one has to blame providence and
not the government.
All primary schools are funded directly by taxpayers under the
Ministry of Education. Since they are public institutions, their
doors should be opened only to Singapore citizens.
The Minister of Education is an elected official. He should take
care of the interests of the voters first and not PRs who do
not have a stake in the country.
PRs can be allocated left-over places only after Singaporeans
have made their pick. The best schools such as Raffles Girls
Primary School, Nanyang Primary and Roseyth Primary should be
reserved solely for citizens.
The children of PRs may not be settling down in Singapore after
all. They may pack their bags and return to their homelands or
study overseas when they reach 18 years of age. They should not
deprive locals of chances to pursue a quality education in a school
of their choice.
Besides, there are international schools which can cater to the
needs of the PRs and they provide an education on par with
Singapore schools.
Granted that PRs pay taxes as well, but they should not forget
that they are here for economic opportunities in the first place
and they should be thankful that Singapore is generous enough to
accept them.
If they truly want their children to enjoy a first world
education in Singapore, then they must be prepared to take up
Singapore citizenship and sink their roots down here.
Perhaps the new rule should be applied to differentiate between
old and new citizens as suggested earlier by a writer to the
Straits Times Forum.
Singapore men has to sacrifice two most productive years of
their lives to serve the nation where they are exposed to all sorts
of risks and dangers.
Upon the completion of National Service, they still have a
13-year reservist obligation to fulfil. Surely it is not too much
to ask the state to grant preferential treatment to their
children?
The new immigrants who flock to Singapore are enjoying the
fruits of our National Servicemen without having to
pay the price. As such, their children should not be entitled
to the same rights and privileges as NSmen.
NSmen are given an income tax exemption of $3,000 in recognition
of their contributions to the nation. Why not extend this to
primary school application as well?
The superficial changes introduced by MOE are hardly enough to
make a “clearer distinction” between citizens and PRs which should
be made not only more acute but extended to differentiate between
old and new citizens as well.
Singapore citizens should not be competing with PRs for primary
school places at all which is hardly heard of in the rest of the
world.
We propose that MOE make the following changes to better reflect
the contributions of NSmen and Singapore citizens:
1. Two ballots for citizens whose fathers have served National
Service.
2. One ballot for citizens who fathers did not serve
National Service.
3. PRs are only allowed to ballot only for left-over places
in selected neighborhood primary schools after Singaporeans
have taken their pick.
Not only will it appease rising disaffection and angst on the
ground among citizens that they have been unfairly treated by the
government, it will also give PRs more incentive to take up
Singapore citizenship.
