Mothership Memo is Mothership’s daily brief on the important headlines of the day. We will also contribute our views on the issues at hand.

Stricter requirements for grassroots volunteers for Primary 1 priority entry

Grassroots volunteers who want priority entry for their children to the Primary school of their choice will now have to volunteer for a minimum of two years, instead of one year. Previously, volunteers could apply for priority entry to schools near their homes and the constituencies they volunteer in. Now, they will only get priority for schools in the constituencies they volunteer in. This change was announced in a People's Association circular in April this year.

If MOE champions the fact that every school is a good school, distance from the home to school should be the only factor determining if a student gets priority entry. Having different tiers of priorities and allowing parents to gain special access through volunteering will perpetuate the impression that some schools are more highly-coveted than others, aside from just how close the school is from their homes.

More firms found WSQ courses good for business

In an annual survey on the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training, more companies found the training to be good for business, but fewer firms said it was useful for their workers. 77 per cent of companies experienced higher work productivity following WSQ training, 70 per cent said the quality of their products improved last year. Both benchmarks improved from 2012. Firms who found the training useful for workers fell from 85 per cent in 2012 to 83 per cent.

It is good feedback for the WSQ to know that fewer companies found training courses provided useful to workers. That way, adjustments could be made to improve the training courses. With 77 per cent of the companies saying that the courses have helped with productivity, it shows that there is still space for companies to increase their output by upgrading their workers' skills through the WSQ.

Top photo from here.

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