Since the Education Ministry announced its decision last Monday to allocate two ballot slips to citizens instead of just one during balloting exercises, this has been a hot topic among parents both on and off the web. This move, together with the impending increase in school fees payable by non-citizens, have been explained as one of the measures to further differentiate between Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PRs) and foreigners in schools, and a way of according additional ‘privileges’ to Singapore citizens.

Differentiation – looks like it. But how much if an impact will this ‘privilege’ have? At first look, this does appear to increase the chances of parents hoping to secure a place for their child.  But to simply say that now every citizen has ‘two chances’ can be misleading. The  probability of getting a place still depends very much on firstly, the number of available places vs number of applicants, and secondly, the number of PRs vying for places. If a school has hardly any PR applicants, then each parent’s probability is unlike to change all that much since almost everyone else is getting an additional chance.

One must also note that while data from the Ministry of Education indicates that PR students comprise 8% of the total cohort, actual percentages vary in schools. Some schools, particularly elite ones do feature a significantly higher percentage of PR students.  So it stands to reason that citizens who would benefit most from the additional ballot slip are those whose schools of choice are highly sought after AND have a sizeable percentage of PRs among the total number of applicants.

For those who lament that this additional ballot slip won’t really help their chances of getting into an elite school, perhaps it is worthwhile to note that there are those who DON’T need this additional leg-up from the government at all – namely those who are happy to choose (NOT settle) for a neighbourhood school or one where there are enough places to do without the need for balloting. But this is another issue altogether...

What are your thoughts on the provision of 1 additional ballot slip for Singapore citizens? Do share your comments with us. 

What price will parents pay to ensure that their children do well in the exams?
Assessment books and reputable tutors… check.
Suspending all ‘unrelated’ activities so that kids get enough time to rest and revise… DOUBLE check.
But will parents grab the chance to get ‘leaked’ exam questions?

I was reading a TODAY article about a tuition agency that had placed misleading ads in the  papers, offering PSLE revision classes ‘by this year (sic) exam setter. ‘O’ level revision by SEAB teachers Oct 1st’. Not surprisingly, these ads raised alarm bells among parents, the media and the authorities. Mediacorp investigations revealed that the ad was not true, and I was glad to note that SEAB was now investigating the case, and it seemed that the agency owner who had placed the ad was neither an SEAB staff member nor a PSLE question setter.

The agency owner had claimed that only two parents responded to his ads and only one signed up for the revision class. I wonder if he was telling the truth… would the SEAB come down harder on him if hordes of parents had signed up for his programme instead of none or a mere handful? And what would that say about the values we hold as parents?

On the basis of sheer common sense and logic, I believe that most parents would decline such an offer. Just as how we would probably shrug our heads and smile at the kopitiam uncle hawking tomorrow’s ‘sure-win’ 4D numbers for the price of a cup of teh, or junk that email offering an iPhone ‘for just $250’. Because – it CANNOT BE THAT EASY.  MOE and the SEAB go into lengthy explanations each year to reassure one and all that they have safeguards in place to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the examinations, such as the requirement that ‘all setters, including teachers, of national examinations sign an undertaking declaring that there is no conflict of interests and to comply with confidentiality requirements and safeguard all official information they have come across in the course of their duties’.

But, suppose we have reason to believe that the leak is genuine? Would we give in to temptation? I would like to hope not, but for as long as the PSLE remains the major source of worry for parents of 12-year-olds everywhere, there will be some who succumb, in the hope of being spared the (potential) look of dejection on their child’s face, or to secure their child’s future - at least for the next few years.

And if such a thing does happen and word gets out, it would undermine the entire system that local schoolchildren have been geared towards, whether we like it or not – that dogged effort and diligence will pay out; that if you’ve been playing one too many videogames at the wrong time, your results WILL suck.

I hope that it will never come to that. There are good tutors and honest tuition centres that don’t promise the moon or 4 A*s, but will work reasonably hard with our children to bring out their potential. The more we see of them, and the less of underhanded tactics, the better for all of us.

What do you think of such tuition agencies with misleading ads? Would you be tempted by such offers?  Do share your thoughts below.