One key difference between neighbourhood and elite schools is the location where the school is nestled in. It is evident that in several wealthy neighbourhoods in Singapore such as Bukit Timah, there is a plethora of good schools that are densely clustered together. For instance, you may notice that Raffles Girls’ Primary School and Nanyang Primary School are strategically situated along the Bukit Timah Belt of Schools, which is home to the most expensive bungalows in Singapore. By contrast, you would find neighbourhood primary schools such as Woodlands Primary School or Admiralty Primary School tucked in the heartlands of Singapore, surrounded by Housing Development Board (HDB) flats.

Such blatant segregation of locations of elite and neighbourhood schools only means one thing: families who reside in humble neighbourhoods are unable to clinch a spot in such coveted schools. This spells an imminent disaster for families who are not privileged because in the Primary 1 registration exercise, the majority of spots in the school are allocated to families who reside within a kilometre’s radius from these schools. This means that wealthier families are able to claim their spots in prestigious primary schools because they live in close proximity to these schools, leaving those who do not stay in these wealthy neighbourhoods unable to secure a slot for their child. Even if these elite schools did not factor location into consideration, it would still be highly impractical and inaccessible for those living in the periphery of Singapore to send their children to these schools purely because of the distance away from their place of residence, deterring them altogether from trying to enter these prestigious schools. Thus, the location of these schools would persistently favour the privileged in society while disadvantage the remaining Singaporeans.

In the rare instance that these ordinary folks want to enter these schools, there is a prevailing perception that these schools are ‘rich men’s schools’. This is because these students entering such schools belong to the upper echelons of society, boasting immense wealth and having well connected parents who command positions of power in their workplaces. Such is a stark contrast from kids who reside in the heartlands of Singapore, coming from humble beginnings and having parents who work ordinary office jobs. Moreover, students hailing from wealthy backgrounds wield the economic capital to indulge in privileges such as travelling to exotic countries during the school holidays and even afford luxurious school necessities such as owning a branded school bag. Hence, when innocuous topics of conversation regarding their parents’ occupation or even about the way that one spent their school holidays are brought up in everyday conversations, it is no surprise that students with wealthy parents will casually weasel their parents’ occupation into the conversation or even intricately share with other students about their exhilarating holiday to the Maldives.

This leaves students from ordinary backgrounds to feel a sense of inferiority and displacement, causing them to feel out of place or even withdraw from the conversation entirely. This is because they realise that they are unable to relate to these students at all due to the vast differences in experiences that they have. The confluence of factors thus results in a homogeneous demographic of students entering these Primary Schools and subsequently Secondary Schools, which only serves to reinforce the perennial notion that these schools are reserved for the wealthy, which is contrary to the national hymn of giving all a fair chance of being admitted, entrenching greater educational inequality in Singapore.