Phase 2C: The Last Balloting Exercise

A total of 77 schools held the balloting exercise for Phase 2C today. It was also the last balloting exercise for these schools. 

Like the previous two sessions, I had the privilege to be present at Baby's school for the balloting exercise.

After bidding goodbye to Baby at 7.25am, I waited at the school canteen till 8am before I made my way up to the room reserved for the exercise.

A lady between late twenties and early thirties entered the room almost as early as I did and checked out the name list stuck on the wall.

Then she approached me and asked if the name list was meant for today's balloting session. When I replied 'yes', she revealed that her brother was an alumnus but thought he was to register today.

I informed her that the alumni phase is 2A, with the earlier phase being the one that has a fee to be paid, and these two phases were over a few weeks ago.

She called the brother and informed him about the nephew's name missing from the list and probably told him what I had told her. After that, she left.

What a shame, I thought. The brother must have missed the registration date for Phase 2A2. If he had joined the alumni association, the association would have notified him about the date for P1 registration.

A quick check of the name list would show that there was a less-than-fifty-percent chance for the ballot.

48 children, including a set of triplets and a pair of twins, vying for 21 seats, making it a total of 44 balls in the juggling gadget. Apparently, there was a withdrawal from a child in Phase 1, the Sibling Phase.

When the first number was drawn and read, the mother-and-grandmother pair who could not contain their exuberance (who could?) gave a short shrill cry in their excitement.

Subsequently, the rest of the parents whose numbers were drawn were rather restrained in their expression of joy. Most gave a wide smile and raised their hands when asked where the parents were.

When Seat No. 18 was drawn and the ball for the triplets rolled out, while the father of the triplets said,"Yes!" albeit in a restrained manner, everybody else was dismayed. Only one seat was left.

The last set of parents whom the last vacancy went to heaved a huge sigh of relief and as what the surrounding parents in Phase 2B did, those who sat around them congratulated them for their good luck. 

27 sets of parents had to leave disappointed.

A parent whose number was not drawn asked me what they should do following the unsuccessful balloting. I told her she had to look for another school which had vacancies for Phase 2C Supplementary.

As the parents were making payment for the parent-volunteer group fee, I discreetly shared with another parent-volunteer about the lady whose brother had missed the registration date for the alumni. She, in turn, shared with me that she had two friends who were unsuccessful in registering their children in schools in Bukit Timah area, the area they lived in, even at Phase 3. They cried when the Ministry of Education posted their children to schools in Sembawang! 

Such unfortunate incidents are stark reminders of how parents should exercise their privilege as citizens and select the next school very carefully. If the next available school at Phase 2CS does not have as great a standard as the choice school, at least make sure the location is a more convenient one for the children. Even if the remaining schools are lousy ones, you really wouldn't want to travel a long distance for a lousy school.