4 S'pore primary schools have ended parent volunteer scheme for P1 admission priority

In the last two years, at least four more primary schools have removed parent volunteer (PV) schemes that give parents priority placement when registering their children for Primary 1.

According to The Straits Times (ST), the schools that stopped accepting PVs are Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) and Mee Toh School in 2026, and Hong Wen School and Rosyth School in 2025.

Parents would complete at least 40 hours of volunteer work under the scheme, which was often seen as a method of getting one's foot in the door.

Tasks included helping at school events, serving as traffic wardens or librarians, ST reported.

The parents get priority to register in Phase 2B of the yearly Primary 1 admission exercise, under which 20 places in each primary school are reserved.

Children of active grassroots leaders and those with church or clan associations connected to the primary school also qualify under this phase.

One-third of primary schools offer scheme

In response to queries from Mothership, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that around one-third of Singapore's primary schools currently offer the PV scheme.

According to MOE's school finder website, there are 182 primary schools in Singapore.

MOE said: "The number of schools which offer the PV scheme has remained fairly stable over the past few years."

MOE noted that "schools may offer the PV scheme at their own discretion, based on their school’s needs".

"PVs play a role in providing schools with valuable additional support, either on a recurrent or one-off basis, as part of a wider ecosystem of community partnership, which also include Parent Support Groups (PSGs)."

Primary 1 registration exercise

According to MOE's Primary 1 Registration phases and key dates website, Phase 1 is for a child who has a sibling in the school.

Phase 2A is for a child studying in the MOE Kindergarten in the primary school, whose parent or sibling is a former student of the school, whose parent is a member of the School Advisory or Management Committee, or whose parent is a staff member of the primary school.

Phases 2C and 3 are open to all other applicants, with 2C based on the distance between the home and the school.

ST reported that the framework has drawn scrutiny over whether the priority should favour children of alumni, parent volunteers or those living close by.

The ministry is currently reviewing the Primary 1 registration system to widen access to schools for children of different backgrounds to encourage social mixing, ST reported.

On their websites, Fairfield Methodist and Rosyth both noted that they no longer recruit PVs for admission under Phase 2B as the schools receive extensive support from their PSGs.

Phase 2B

Based on MOE's vacancies and balloting data for the 2025 P1 registration exercise for Phase 2B, Fairfield Methodist, located in Dover, was oversubscribed with 30 applicants competing for 20 places in 2025. ST reported that in 2026, 27 applicants were balloting for 22 spots.

Hong Wen in Bendemeer had enough places for applicants in Phase 2B with 23 applicants and 28 vacancies. However, it had 32 applicants vying for 30 places in 2026, ST reported.

Rosyth School in Serangoon North saw 31 applicants trying for 20 spots in 2025. According to ST, it had enough slots for all applicants in Phase 2B in 2026.

Mee Toh in Punggol had enough slots for all Phase 2B applicants for both years.

Other schools that no longer accept PVs

ST reported that at least six other schools no longer accept PVs: Bukit Timah Primary School, CHIJ (Katong) Primary, St. Margaret’s School (Primary), Maris Stella High School (Primary), Opera Estate Primary School and Queenstown Primary School.

ST reported that in 2014, four schools under the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK), namely Tao Nan, Ai Tong, Nan Chiau Primary and Kong Hwa, scrapped the scheme.

ST also reported that St Anthony’s Canossian Primary in Bedok North had also done so that same year.

While the scheme was scrapped in the four SHHK schools, parents could still gain access through clan association; similarly, parents who are baptised catholics can register their children in Phase 2B for admission into Catholic schools.

According to ST, since 2022, MOE has reserved 60 places for Phases 2B and 2C; any vacancies remaining from earlier phases are split, with one-third allocated to Phase 2B and two-thirds to Phase 2C.