Reference No : Edun S02-03-002 Vol 15

Press Release No : 01495

Date : 26 June 1995

PRIMARY ONE REGISTRATION EXERCISE 1995 ON-LINE REGISTRATION SYSTEM

1. The Ministry of Education will be introducing a computerised on-line registration system for the Primary One Registration Exercise to be held from 12 Jul 95 to 22 Sep 95. It will also be making available relevant information on the exercise through Internet and INtv in addition to the usual announcements in the press and TV media. All these are part of the Ministry's efforts to enhance the quality of its service to the public. A brief description of the on-line registration system is given in the Annex.

2. The changes introduced in this year's exercise will result in a reduction in the number of visits by parents to the schools and in the queuing time during registration. For example, in Phase 1, parents of children with elder siblings studying in the school of choice need not go to the school at all to do the registration. This group of children makes up about 45% of the cohort of children seeking admission to Primary One in 1996. The parents of the other 55% who will be registering in the other phases need to go to school only once instead of three times as in the past to register their children. By using the on-line system, the registration time will be much shortened resulting in the queuing time for a parent to register his child being reduced significantly.

3. Parents will be able to obtain information relevant to the exercise in the Internet under the headings, 'Primary One Registration Information' and 'Primary One Registration Statistics'. In the Internet, the profile of each school registering children for admission to Primary One will be given.

4. To facilitate the parents in knowing the vacancy position at the end of each phase and whether or not a school will conduct balloting, the Ministry will publicise this information in the press and through Internet and INtv.

Annex

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ON-LINE REGISTRATION SYSTEM

The Primary One Registration Scheme

Phase 1

1. A parent registering his child under Phase 1 need not go to the school to do the registration. He is required only to submit to the school, through his elder child who is in the school, an application confirming the child's registration. Every child registered under this phase would be assured of a place in the school. At the end of Phase 1, the school will inform the parent about the orientation arrangement for the child. For record purposes, the parent will be given a Pupil Data Form (PDF) to complete at home and to be returned to the school within a week.

Phases 2A, 2B and 2C

2. For Phases 2A, 2B and 2C, the parent will have to go to the school of choice to register his child. At the registration centre, the eligibility of the child for the phase of registration and the proximity of the home from the school of choice will be checked.

3. Registration is simply done by entering relevant particulars on the child's birth certificate (BC) in the computer.

4. The school then issues the PDF to the parent to complete. The parent can choose to complete the PDF at home and return it to the school, by hand or by post, within a week or be assisted by teachers in the completion of the form in school during the registration.

5. The school will notify the parent of the outcome of registration by post before the start of registration for the next phase. For the successful cases, the parent will also be informed of the arrangement for orientation for his child. Where balloting for a particular phase is required in a school, announcement will be made in the mass media, INtv and Internet. The mass media, INtv and Internet will also be used to announce the vacancy position at the end of each phase.