Impact of Relocating Bukit View Primary School

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Murali Pillai, Bukit Batok SMC

Response

Introduction/background on School Planning

Mr Deputy Speaker,

1. Let me start by thanking colleagues in this House, including Mr Murali, for supporting the schools and students in their wards. Many of you also share useful feedback on school-related issues to the Ministry of Education (MOE), which we take seriously and try our best to address.

2. MOE regularly reviews the demand and supply trends for school places at the national and regional levels. Our school planning takes into account current and projected populations, as well as planned housing programmes to ensure that there are sufficient school places to meet the needs of school-going children in each area.

3. Because of parental preferences, some schools may see demand consistently exceeding the available vacancies, whereas there could be other schools in the same area which have vacancies. On the whole, our Primary 1 (P1) admission exercise has consistently enabled about 98% of Singaporean children to get into a Primary school of their choice, or within 2 km of their residence.

Shifting Demand for Primary School Places within Bukit Batok due to Demographic Changes

4. Let me talk specifically about Bukit Batok. Like other towns, MOE planned school places in Bukit Batok on the basis of current and known housing developments, and these are updated regularly. MOE's decision to re-locate Bukit View Primary School, BVPS, from Bukit Batok East to a new site in Bukit Batok West in 2027 is to address the changes in the population spread and demand for primary school places, within Bukit Batok. Let me elaborate.

5. Demand for school places in Bukit Batok East where BVPS is currently located has been falling, and will continue to fall, as the estate matures. Three years ago, in 2020, Bukit Batok East accounted for 45% of the total Bukit Batok demand of P1 places. This has dropped to 38% in 2023, and is projected to slide further to about 20% in 2030, even after accounting for the recently completed BTOs that Mr Murali mentioned.

6. On the other hand, Bukit Batok West has seen a steadily growing demand for school places as a result of several more new BTOs.

7. And for the whole of Bukit Batok, the total P1 demand in Bukit Batok remains roughly the same over the medium to long-term. This means that for Bukit Batok as a whole, MOE does not need more primary schools. But we have to take a careful look at where they are located as the weight of demand shifts from Bukit Batok East to Bukit Batok West and the new Tengah Town.

8. As such, in our most recent review in 2021, we re-assessed our earlier decision to upgrade BVPS at its current location in Bukit Batok East. Based on that review, MOE decided that it would be better to relocate BVPS to a new and bigger campus in Bukit Batok West, 2 km away, to meet the growing demand for P1 places in Bukit Batok West and the adjacent Tengah Town. The new campus will have more and updated facilities to better support our students. This bigger campus will comfortably allow us to expand BVPS' intake by one P1 class per cohort, instead of the current 8 P1 classes and give us flexibility to meet short-term surges in demand if required.

9. Mr Murali has raised concerns over possible localised shortage of P1 places when BVPS moves out. In particular, he is concerned over the demand from recent BTO projects, namely Skyline, Sky Peak, and Sky Vista. We have estimated that these BTOs would not reverse the overall declining demand in Bukit Batok East due to the ageing profile of the other households in the area. When BVPS re-locates to its new campus, there will be sufficient school places for Mr Murali's residents, in two other primary schools – Keming Primary, Lianhua Primary, and other nearby schools like Dazhong Primary and St Anthony's Primary. There are altogether 6 primary schools in Bukit Batok town. For the benefit of members in the Chamber who are not familiar with the area, BVPS, Keming Primary, and Lianhua Primary are within close proximity of one another. So what we are essentially planning to do is re-locate one of them from Bukit Batok East to Bukit Batok West where there will be higher demand for primary school places in the future.

Relocation of Bukit View Primary

10. Let me now explain how we will smoothen the re-location of BVPS to its new campus 2km away in 2027. MOE has done similar re-locations over the years. One recent example in 2022 is Angsana Primary, where all students moved to a new campus, also about 2km away, within Tampines town.

11. Using the "lift and shift" method, we kept the school intact, ensured all students benefited from the new facilities at the new campus and provided a sense of continuity for the students and the teachers. BVPS will adopt this similar approach which is the preferred approach when the re-location is over a relatively short distance.

12. All of BVPS' students currently in Primary 3 and above would not be affected by the move. For the current Primary 1 and Primary 2 students, MOE has consulted the school leaders on measures to minimise inconvenience to those affected by the relocation.

1. About 40% of the current Primary 1 and 2 students live in Bukit Batok West and the relocation there will benefit them. BVPS' subsequent new P1 cohorts would likely have even higher proportions staying in Bukit Batok West.
2. For current BVPS students who live in Bukit Batok East, the school will consider providing bus shuttle service for those who stay within walking distance from its current campus, if there is sufficient demand.

13. I hope the affected parents will give the school time and their support to work through these measures. Where necessary, MOE will also give additional resources to the school leaders to make the transition arrangements.

Why did MOE change its plans?

14. We appreciate that any change of plans, including for BVPS, could be disruptive and maybe even disappointing to some quarters. In addition, for the local community and for Mr Murali, MOE fully understands that BVPS has been a part of the community for decades. We would like to assure Mr Murali that MOE does not take lightly a re-location decision unless we are convinced this is in the best interests of our current and future students.

15. This was why MOE had previously contemplated keeping BVPS at its current site with an upgrading plan for the school and had conveyed as such to Mr Murali. However, in the latest review, and with greater clarity over the medium to long-term housing and demographic trends in Bukit Batok, MOE had to refresh our plans that would serve Bukit Batok residents and their children better overall. In March 2021, we informed Mr Murali and parents that the upgrading of BVPS was put on hold due to the need to review the project requirements further. Mr Murali is right that MOE had changed our plans. But we believe this change of plans for BVPS would be the better outcome for Bukit Batok residents come 2027, and even more so beyond 2027.

15. Mr Murali has asked MOE why he was not informed early of MOE's change of plan for BVPS after our internal review. I would like to explain that for sensitive decisions to re-locate or merge schools (including those with property market sensitivities), MOE has to keep external consultations tight to key stakeholders. In the case of the relocation of ACS (Primary) to Tengah, selected members of their Board of Governors had to be consulted as it involved land owned by the Methodist Church.

16. Once MOE has arrived at a decision, we will strive to put in transition arrangements as early and as thoroughly as possible to mitigate any local impact. For the case of BVPS, as with other re-locations, MOE would communicate the decision and considerations to the local advisor at an appropriate opportunity.

17. Mr Murali also raised concerns over how the change in plan for a possible MOE Kindergarten (MK) at BVPS would affect residents in Bukit Batok SMC. MOE works closely with the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to facilitate ECDA's overall planning of pre-school facilities to meet the needs of every community. We have been updating ECDA regularly on our MK plans, including our earlier decision to put on hold the upgrading of BVPS.

Conclusion

18. Mr Deputy Speaker, MOE's plan to re-locate BVPS from Bukit Batok East to Bukit Batok West is essentially to better meet the needs of residents overall in the Bukit Batok area in the longer term. I would like to thank Mr Murali for working with MOE over the years to support BVPS and all the schools in his constituency, and for his sincere efforts to regularly communicate with MOE to reflect the needs of his residents.