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I read with interest last Wednesday's letter by Mr Chong Kim Hwa, 'Primary 1 registration: Separate citizens, PRs'.
I agree with the idea of granting a place to children who already have siblings in the school. But I wish to counter other points made by Mr Chong.
First, his claim that prioritisation of citizens over non-citizens is fair and impartial. The reason he gave is that the number of new permanent residents is higher than the number of births.
The number of PRs granted was 50,000, whereas the number of births was around 40,000. The fact that the Government is willing to grant foreign talent PR implies that there are sufficient places in Singapore schools for children of PRs and citizens.
Second, Mr Chong suggested balloting if there are insufficient places after citizens are allocated theirs. He assumed that there will always be sufficient places for citizens and no balloting is required. Is this assumption backed by data? What happens in the event that balloting is required for citizens?
Third, the Government is encouraging foreign talent to settle in Singapore and contribute to the economy. A major consideration for foreign talent who are considering Singapore is the guarantee of places for their children in our world-class schools.
Thus, the process Mr Chong proposed runs contrary to the strategy and effort of the Government to attract foreign talent. In the long run, this will cause them to seek other countries that will welcome them as much as our Government does.
I would like to end by posing a question to Mr Chong.
How would you feel if you migrated to another country, contributed to the economy of your adopted country but your children were given lowest priority in school enrolment?
Elaine Yong (Ms)
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 9 July 2008.
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