Singapore
They will be eligible for admission under Phase 2A2 during the 2018 Primary 1 registration exercise.
File photo of students at a primary school.
SINGAPORE: Children attending Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens located within primary school compounds will get higher priority in entering these schools, MOE announced on Monday (Nov 27).
Under the pilot programme, these children will be eligible under Phase 2A2 starting from the 2018 Primary 1 registration exercise, for admission in 2019.
Previously, Phase 2A2 was reserved for children whose parents or siblings have studied in the school, and whose parents are staff members of the school.
The 12 primary schools where the kindergartens are located are Northoaks, Riverside, Punggol Green, Punggol View, Sengkang Green, Springdale, Farrer Park, Blangah Rise, Dazhong, Frontier, Westwood and West Spring. Co-located kindergartens are under the purview of the schools.
BENEFITS IN TRANSITIONING
Currently, about half of the children who attend these MOE kindergartens move on to co-located primary schools, the ministry said during a media briefing held at its headquarters in Buona Vista on Monday.
MOE said that it has received feedback from teachers and parents on the benefits of moving on to a co-located primary school. Remaining in a familiar physical, social and educational environment helps to smoothen their move to Primary 1, a spokesman said.
Speaking to the media after the briefing, Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng said: “In this environment we hope to enable a smoother learning journey, a more familiar environment where they have older primary school kids who look after them.”
Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng speaking to reporters during a media briefing on Nov 27, 2017. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
MOE, which has been operating kindergartens for about four years, currently has 15 kindergartens. The remaining three are in community sites and will eventually be relocated to primary schools.
At the National Day Rally this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that MOE will increase the number of its kindergartens to 50 by 2023. MOE said all new kindergartens will be co-located in primary schools.
Among factors that give children priority in admission to MOE kindergartens are being Singaporean siblings of K1 children studying in the kindergarten in the year of registration, living nearby and coming from a particular income bracket.
Currently, the kindergartens take in 60 to 120 children in the K1 level.
