WE REFER to Wednesday's letter by Mrs Alefia A. Vasanwala, 'Upset over school's split sessions', regarding Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKP) going partial single-session next year. She was unhappy about the short notice given.

We understand Mrs Vasanwala's concern about her children being in different sessions. The Government's aim is for all our primary schools to move from double-session (that is, three primary levels in the morning session and the other three levels in the afternoon) to partial single-session (that is, four levels in the morning session and two levels in the afternoon) by 2013.

This was announced as far back as March 2003 when most of our primary schools were operating in double sessions. Moving our schools to partial single sessions will open up possibilities for better teaching and learning, by making more space and time available for teachers and pupils without the need to build more new schools. It will also provide schools with greater flexibility to develop more meaningful programmes.

TKP has been fortunate in being able to hold all its classes in the morning thus far because of its lower student enrolment in previous years. But as demand for Primary1 (P1) places in this area is increasing, TKP will need to open up more P1 places. It therefore has to move to operating in partial single sessions from next year, like most other primary schools.

If TKP continues to hold all its classes in the morning, it would have to take in fewer pupils than last year. This is not acceptable, as it means that other schools will need to take in more pupils and shelve their plans to go partial single-session.

On June 23, before the start of this year's P1 registration exercise, TKP had informed parents about the school going partial single-session for its P1 and P2 cohorts next year. The school subsequently briefed the parents, including Mrs Vasanwala, about the move.

We would be happy to explore with Mrs Vasanwala other ideas she may have to help ease the transition process.

If, however, she wishes to withdraw her child from TKP and register in another school under Phase 2C of the P1 registration exercise, she can still do so, as registration for Phase 2C will commence only next Tuesday. We invite Mrs Vasanwala to contact us for more details on the registration process.

Cheong Ye Ling (Mrs)
Principal
Tanjong Katong Primary School

This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 26, 2008.