'Unfair that parents have to volunteer so much of their time without guarantee of a place for their children.'

MRS ELIZABETH NG, who signed up with her husband for parent volunteering at a primary school, said: 'To our shock, instead of the usual 40 hours a year that parents have to put in so that their child can qualify for registration for a place, this school increased the volunteering hours to a minimum of 60. Even then, there was no guarantee of a place in the school for our son. The school replied that its criterion was reasonable as other schools imposed a minimum of 80 or even 100 hours. The Education Ministry should stop schools from imposing higher than usual volunteering hours to suit their whims and fancies.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on May 17, 2008.