[Update 22 Aug 09: See primary schools ranking for 2009]
A good education is arguably a necessary condition for good employability and even a good salary, so:
Good Education ≈ Good Salary.
… which is why parents are so uptight about getting their children into the best primary schools. They know best.
Going by this, I looked at the Primary One registration numbers from MOE and derived the Salary.sg list of the Best Primary Schools in Singapore.
Specifically, I calculated for each school the percentage of its total vacancies that are still available for the coveted Phase 2B, and ranked the schools by that.
What’s so special about Phase 2B? It’s when the fate of some children happens to be determined by a dice roll, or otherwise known as a ballot. See Straits Times article: Phase 2B balloting likely at 28 schools.
That’s right. Some children may still end up in a less preferred school (neighborhood school?) even after their parents spent precious time volunteering at their choice schools, or even moving house to a place 1km or 2km away from the school.
Here’s the Best 20 Primary Schools:
- Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) – 7.5% of vacancies available for Phase 2B
- Nan Hua Primary – 11.3%
- CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ – 11.9%
- Henry Park Primary – 12.1%
- Ai Tong – 12.4%
- Nanyang Primary – 13.3%
- St Hilda’s Primary – 13.6%
- Bukit Panjang Primary – 13.7%
- Rivervale Primary – 13.8%
- Maha Bodhi – 14.5%
- Holy Innocents’ Primary – 15.3%
- Chongzheng Primary – 15.7%
- Rosyth – 16.1%
- Tao Nan – 16.9%
- Red Swastika – 17.0%
- Catholic High – 17.6%
- Temasek Primary – 18.0%
- Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) – 18.1%
- Fairfield Methodist Primary – 18.1%
- White Sands Primary – 18.6%
20 Comments
Not exactly. I had a good education, great results but lousy career luck is not helping me in anyway 🙂
Not true. It’s true only if you are an elite scholar, ie President’s Scholar or SAF Overseas Scholar. “Farmer scholars” just get normal pay, and a bond.
Even so, not all President’s Scholars make it to the elite-of-the-elite Administrative Service which pays as much as $320k pa to the best 32-year-old AO.
SAF Scholars also make a fair amount, but definitely not as much as the best AO.
But both scholarships offer you a comparatively better chance to become a Minister one day! 🙂
how did you derive the ranking? is it top to down rank #? I was searching for more statistics, how do you define “best”? is it by demand? or by student results/performance?
I was looking at Holy Innocents’ primary, and never heard before that it is sought after school.
Holy Innocents’ Primary – 15.3%
what does 15.3% represent?
Thanks
Dear Anna, if you re-read the article, the author said he “calculated for each school the percentage of its total vacancies that are still available for the coveted Phase 2B, and ranked the schools by that”. So, the 15.3% means the school still has 15.3% vacancies left after phase 2b. Which is sort of like a ranking by demand. Not very scientific.
I did not see raffles girls primary school on the ranking list..I thought it is supposed to be good, too?
In my opinion, getting into a good school doesn’t necessarily promise a bright future. But it definitely make things easier for the children in the future,esp. in sg where career is qualification-based…
it’s definitely a gate for a bright future. By entering a good school or even a top school (in general not just primary school), first thing is that it makes easier to enter the employment market, gate is open, once it is open, the success depends on one self, gotta prove it. Second, good school provides in general better educatio system, good environment, and highly competitive environment. Heard the saying says, if you want to be successful, mix around with successful people, if you want to be smart, mix around with smart people.
oh cool!i can’t believe that my school is in the top 20!:D
I find it hard to believe just how competitive and ridiculous all this is. Why do people act like animals and think only of their survival. If you go to a good school it = to a hopefully good salary! Is money all that we can think about! Schools should be also measured in how well balanced and what type of character a child grows into whilst at school. It seems to highlight that children are put through a system that is so competitive and it’s focus is on how much money you can earn when you leave school. What is the point of this life then if that is all we have come to focus on! Nothing Cool about that just simply a foolish way to live your life!
You blaming us? Money is what motivates this country. It’s always about money- the economy, stock market, property, investments, high paying jobs. Our political leaders demand high pay, some religious leaders horde money, CEOs of some charities corrupt. Money money money. Everything else is secondary. Why teach our kids other things if they only grow up to be just like us in this money minded environment?
But I disagree with you that we act like animals if we’re money minded. It’s just pragmatism.
From the tone of your message and the words you choose, you sound a little uncouth too, criticizing on your high horse, trying to sound like a person with values, but in fact just like the rest of us.
This “P” person has to be constantly short of money to be THAT angry about others wanting more money.
Everybody has a different priority in life. What you think should be your top priority in life will probably sound foolish, pointless, and even animalistic to others in this forum too. Sheesh. Grow up!
Ah Well…Like any other anxious parent, I am trying to latch on to any information I get online abt good schools. My son is already in P1 at apparently an extremely good school. But since we are moving to another town, I tried transfering him to another “good” school, but they have a huge waiting list and refused to transfer him. Just FYI, I was surprised to see both these good schools missing from your list and one school in your list is right next to the block I am moving to, but have never heard of it before. Thanks for adding to my dilemma!
NA, mind telling us which are the schools you’re talking about, especially the “extremely good” one?
The statistics are not valid as they are not adjusted for size of intake.
Raffles Girls Primary has an intake of over 300. Some schools have an intake of only 100.
Without some form of normalisation for intake size, this “school popularity index” (at best) is not in any way a proxy for “best”
Maybe if the analysis was based on the average PSLE score, or number of students admitted into an (arbitrary) “good school” like RGS