Single-session schools: Great, but...

AMONG recommendations to improve primary school education, the one on getting these schools to go single session raised a buzz.

Implementing this change, however, may be another story, especially in popular schools, which already have large enrolments straining their physical facilities.

Parents like the single-session idea, but have objected to these schools cutting intakes or running second campuses elsewhere.

A panel looking into enhancing primary education here came up against these issues in recent focus group discussions it held for groups of parents, students and school principals.

The panel, formed last month to gather feedback from the ground and study the recommendations, is led by Senior Minister of State for Education Grace Fu.

Announced by the Education Minister in September, the changes to the primary education landscape include:

• Moving towards a single session to create more space and time for holistic learning;
• Moving towards an all-graduate recruitment by 2015, and
• Enhancing academic and co- curricular activities that build life skills and character in pupils. At a discussion with 25 parents last Wednesday, many said they welcomed the idea of single sessions because it would give their children more time in the afternoons. But how soon this can become reality is hamstrung by some popular schools not having enough classrooms for all levels of pupils in one session. Lawyer Shirley Lo, 40, who has three children in the popular Southview Primary in Choa Chu Kang, said she hoped that difficulties like space constraint and large enrolment would not keep Southview from going single- session. 'Often, these popular schools which have large enrolments are the ones where resources are already stretched. They are the ones which will benefit most from going single-session, as teachers can meet more often and consolidate the use of resources,' she said. When contacted, Southview's principal Jenny Yeo said the facilities in her school, with 2,500 pupils in two sessions, are already stretched to the maximum; and she has been looking into how to expand its facilities. One possible solution lies in adding classrooms on its rooftop, 'but there are technical difficulties', she said. It does not help that interest in Southview continues to be high - balloting for Primary 1 places is an annual affair. She opened 12 Primary 1 classes this year, and has since ditched her plan to cut the intake for next year because many parents had volunteered their time and services in the hope of gaining places for their children. 'I don't have the heart to cut the intake. If I do that, the parents will scream,' she said. One suggestion was for popular schools to have two campuses but parents rejected this as they believed the second campus would not enjoy the same prestige and status as the original one. Schools contacted said the ideal solution would be to move to a bigger campus, or expand on-site. 'It will take time but it is not insurmountable. Schools will adopt customised solutions - some will expand, some will cut enrolment. It will not be a one-size-fits-all solution,' Ms Fu said.