I am not a parent but can fully understand parents' feelings and appreciate their concerns (P1 registration: Volunteering at school should guarantee place, by Ms Rachel Lim, Nov 2).
Parents completing the number of hours of service stipulated by the Education Ministry to apply in Phase 2B is indeed a barter trade (Volunteering in schools: Don't treat it like barter trade, by Mr Steven Lim, Nov 5). So let us approach it as such and replace "volunteering" with "serving" or "providing services" if need be.
While there is a need to talk about teaching values, telling others that they should willingly make huge sacrifices without expecting any returns is not right.
Schools need to do better than enticing parents to save hiring costs for a mere balloting chance, which is analogous to asking people to work for free for the experience and exposure.
Terence Lim