SINGAPORE – The decision to relocate Bukit View Primary School (BVPS) 2km to the west was made to meet the growing demand for Primary 1 places in Bukit Batok West and Tengah town, while demand in its current Bukit Batok East neighbourhood declines due to ageing.
BVPS’ Bukit Batok West campus, which is slated to open in 2027, will be bigger and have more facilities to support pupils. This will allow the Primary 1 intake to be increased from eight to nine classes, Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang said in Parliament.
She was responding to a speech on Wednesday by Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), who called the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) decision to relocate BVPS, announced on Feb 9, “a bolt from the blue”.
Mr Murali said the announcement was made with no consultation of stakeholders, and even though three new Build-To-Order (BTO) projects had recently been completed in the school’s current vicinity.
He said: “We are not dealing with an urgent matter that requires decisive action, such as defending the Singapore dollar... On the contrary, we are dealing with a decision to withdraw essential educational services from a neighbourhood.”
In her reply, Ms Gan said demand for Primary 1 places in Bukit Batok East accounted for 45 per cent of Bukit Batok’s total demand in 2020, but dropped to 38 per cent in 2023. It is projected to slide further to about 20 per cent by 2030 despite housing developments such as Skyline, SkyPeak and Sky Vista being completed in the last few years.
She added: “We have estimated that these BTOs would not reverse the overall declining demand in Bukit Batok East due to the ageing profile of the other households in the area.”
On the other hand, Bukit Batok West has seen a steadily growing demand for school places as a result of several more new BTO projects, she added.
Mr Murali also asked why relevant parties such as the school’s advisory committee and affected parents were not consulted, unlike with Anglo-Chinese School (Primary).
The latter’s move from its current Barker Road campus in Newton to Tengah in 2030 had been in discussion between MOE and the school’s board of governors since early 2022.
Ms Gan replied that for sensitive decisions such as those that may affect the property market, MOE has to keep external consultations tight to key stakeholders.
“In the case of relocation of ACS (Primary) to Tengah, selected members of their board of governors had to be consulted, as it involved land owned by the Methodist Church,” she said.
Mr Murali also raised concerns that his residents had been misled by HDB’s marketing of the BTO projects as being close to BVPS’ current location.
Some couples looking to start a family and those with young children may have relied on HDB’s brochures that specifically advertised their proximity to BVPS and other schools. Residents had also told him they had hoped to enrol their children in either the MOE kindergarten that is to be integrated with BVPS, or the primary school.
Ms Gan said: “When BVPS relocates to its new campus, there will be sufficient school places for Mr Murali’s residents in two other primary schools – Keming Primary and Lianhua Primary – and other nearby schools like Dazhong and St Anthony’s Primary.”
She also outlined plans to ease the transition for those from BVPS’ current Primary 1 and 2 cohorts, who will be affected by the move in four years.
About 40 per cent of these pupils already live in Bukit Batok West, and would be closer to the new campus, she said. For pupils who live in Bukit Batok East, the school will consider providing a bus shuttle service for those living within walking distance of its current campus if there is sufficient demand.
She agreed with Mr Murali that the primary school has been an integral part of the community, and that these changes could be “disruptive and maybe even disappointing to some quarters”.
“We would like to assure Mr Murali that MOE does not take lightly a relocation decision unless we are convinced this is in the best interests of our current and future students.”
