P1 registration system being reviewed to improve social mixing in primary schools: Minister

SINGAPORE – The Primary 1 registration system is being reviewed to widen access to schools for children of different backgrounds and encourage social mixing, said Education Minister Desmond Lee.

He said the Ministry of Education (MOE) is looking at how to increase the diversity of children in primary schools, and acknowledged that giving priority through affiliation can result in a concentration of certain profiles of pupils.

While priority admission via proximity is practical for young children, it can also have an impact on pupil diversity, he said on Jan 26 in his first sit-down interview with the media since he became education minister in May 2025.

Mr Lee said the nature of the neighbourhood can affect diversity in schools, depriving children of the opportunity to mix with children from families across the whole spectrum of society.

Hence, MOE is looking at how to better support social mixing in schools using various levers, he said.

“Our schools are not just a passive mirror of our society, of our community around us... but they are also active platforms to enable our society to continue to thrive and flourish,” he said, adding that diversity and inclusiveness create opportunities for students to interact and learn from one another.

“As part of Forward Singapore, we want to make sure that our society doesn’t stratify, and this is important not just at the high level but at the level of lived experience,” Mr Lee said.

The Primary 1 registration framework

has long drawn scrutiny

over whether priority should favour children of alumni and parent volunteers or those living nearby, with many parents moving homes to secure entry into their preferred schools.

Changes have been made over the years to ensure that schools remain accessible to as many children as possible.

Since 2022, MOE has reserved 60 places for Phases 2B and 2C, which come after slots have been given to children with prior connections, like siblings or alumni parents.

Any vacancies remaining from earlier phases will be split, with one-third allocated to Phase 2B and two-thirds to Phase 2C.

Asked about what ideas have surfaced during the discussions so far on Primary 1 registration, Mr Lee said the many opposing views by different parties show the “zero-sum nature” of the issue. Some think that affiliation or distance should not matter, and others say parents should just ballot for places all together without being split into phases.

There are good intentions behind all these considerations, and the ministry will study this issue “extremely carefully”, he said.

Asked if there will be more access for children to schools they have no prior links to, Mr Lee said the impact of affiliation will have to be studied across different schools. Affiliation could lead to concentrations of certain pupil profiles, or it could also strengthen diversity, he added.

“We will further unpack this topic in the weeks and months ahead, and then we hope to make some changes when ready,” he said.

The Primary 1 registration exercise is conducted in several phases.

Phase 1 is reserved for children whose siblings are currently studying in the school.

Phase 2A prioritises children whose parents and siblings are former pupils of the school, as well as parents who are members of its alumni association, staff or its advisory and management committees. This phase also grants entry to children who had attended the MOE Kindergarten tied to the desired school.

Phase 2B reserves placement for children whose parents volunteer with the school, or are active community leaders or members of school-affiliated organisations.

Finally, Phases 2C and 3 are open to all other applicants. Phase 2C is the open phase for those who do not enjoy any form of priority admission, and is based on home-to-school distance.

Supporting students from lower-income families

To address inequality, MOE is also tightening coordination efforts with the national ComLink programme for children from lower-income families, said Mr Lee, who is also Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration.

He said MOE wants to strengthen support for children from less well-off backgrounds through the umbrella initiative of ComLink, as schools are already plugged into this initiative. The government scheme provides low-income households with financial incentives and other support if they take steps to improve their lives, such as holding stable jobs.

He cited existing support for these children through student care centres, the Junior Sports Academy – a two-year sports programme for primary school pupils – and secondary school after-school engagements.

He also cited Gift-A-Family,

an initiative launched in 2024

to give extra support to families in areas such as enrichment and therapy, and the Opportunity Fund grants given to schools to subsidise co-curricular development opportunities for less well-off students.

A recurrent theme that comes up in his conversations with educators and school staff is that these students with poor attendance and performance often face difficulties at home.

Teachers and allied educators do not just support such children in school, Mr Lee said. “Sometimes they will go knock on the door to try to bring the child to class, but sometimes they’ll say the problem is actually behind the door in the family, the challenges they face.

“Tightening that coordination for the children in our schools who face issues that go beyond the classroom is an important piece of work. It’s been ongoing for some time, but I think we want to give this extra emphasis,” he said.

He emphasised the need to strengthen partnerships between schools and social service partners, such as the social service offices and family service centres, and the ComLink Alliance Working Group in ComLink towns.

Singaporeans also have many good ideas, he said, citing ideas raised in Parliament, such as Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC MP David Hoe’s

idea of “curiosity credits”

for children to explore new interests.

“All these ideas and more, we will take them into consideration and study how better to support our children.” Mr Lee said.