Why move Townsville and Damai Primary?

The Ministry of Education has announced that the two primary schools will move so as to

meet the growing demand for places in East Canberra and Tampines North

Canberra is now a bustling residential estate between Sembawang and Yishun, filled with HDBs, ECs, and private condos. A new launch is even on the way. Yet, surprisingly, it doesn’t have a primary school of its own. Relocating a school there makes sense.

Growing towns need schools.

But why these two?

The answer is simple—they’re under-enrolled.

Based on our analysis of 2024 P1 enrolment data, Townsville Primary ranks 4th lowest in intake, with only 67 students in Primary 1. Damai Primary enrolled just 105 students.

MOE is moving resources where they’re needed most.

Least Populated Schools

This is sorted by the number of places taken after 2C(S).

	School	Taken	Vacancy	% Taken
1	Blangah Rise	46	120	38%
2	First Toa Payoh	61	150	41%
3	Northoaks	66	210	31%
4	Townsville	67	150	45%
5	Zhonghua	71	120	59%
6	Si Ling	73	150	49%
7	Gan Eng Seng	78	150	52%
8	Cantonment	85	150	57%
9	New Town	86	180	48%
10	Meridian	95	240	40%
11	Beacon	98	150	65%
12	Greenridge	99	150	66%
13	Xinghua	99	180	55%
14	Montfort Junior	102	150	68%
15	Teck Whye	102	210	49%
16	Qihua	103	180	57%
17	Canossa Catholic	104	120	87%
18	Ahmad Ibrahim	105	220	48%
19	Damai	105	150	70%
20	Boon Lay Garden	109	180	61%
21	Mayflower	113	150	75%
22	Fuchun	114	180	63%
23	Yuhua	114	300	38%
24	St. Anthony’s Canossian	120	180	67%
25	Bendemeer	121	190	64%
26	Ang Mo Kio	125	150	83%
27	Seng Kang	125	180	69%
28	Corporation	126	180	70%
29	Farrer Park	130	190	68%
30	Bedok Green	131	180	73%
31	Changkat	133	240	55%
32	Unity	133	210	63%
33	Edgefield	142	240	59%
34	Opera Estate	145	150	97%
35	CHIJ (Katong)	146	200	73%
36	Innova	146	180	81%
37	West View	148	150	99%
38	Casuarina	149	180	83%
39	CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel	150	150	100%
40	Jing Shan	150	150	100%
41	St. Gabriel’s	150	150	100%
42	Teck Ghee	150	150	100%
43	Zhangde	150	150	100%
44	CHIJ (Kellock)	153	200	77%
45	Marymount Convent	158	240	66%
46	Xingnan	158	180	88%
47	Woodlands Ring	159	180	88%
48	Elias Park	160	160	100%
49	Greendale	160	240	67%
50	Yangzheng	160	160	100%
51	Yew Tee	160	210	76%
52	North Spring	163	210	78%
53	Woodgrove	163	180	91%
54	West Grove	164	210	78%
55	St. Stephen’s	165	240	69%
56	East Spring	168	220	76%
57	CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace	170	180	94%
58	Cedar	173	240	72%
59	Marsiling	173	180	96%
60	Jiemin	174	190	92%
61	Haig Girls’	176	190	93%
62	Bukit Timah	178	180	99%
63	Evergreen	180	180	100%
64	Fengshan	180	180	100%
65	Jurong West	180	180	100%
66	Park View	180	210	86%
67	Pasir Ris	180	180	100%
68	Pei Tong	180	280	64%
69	White Sands	180	180	100%
70	Yio Chu Kang	180	180	100%
71	Yu Neng	180	180	100%
72	Yumin	180	240	75%
73	Lianhua	185	320	58%
74	Fuhua	187	280	67%
75	Hougang	190	190	100%
76	Peiying	190	190	100%
77	Punggol	190	190	100%
78	Endeavour	192	210	91%
79	Singapore Chinese Girls’	192	192	100%
80	St. Margaret’s	192	192	100%
81	Anchor Green	196	240	82%
82	Greenwood	196	210	93%
83	Alexandra	200	200	100%
84	Dazhong	200	200	100%
85	Princess Elizabeth	200	200	100%
86	Radin Mas	200	200	100%
87	Rivervale	200	200	100%
88	Sembawang	200	200	100%
89	Shuqun	200	200	100%
90	Tanjong Katong	200	200	100%
91	Temasek	200	200	100%
92	Woodlands	208	210	99%
93	Admiralty	210	210	100%
94	Anderson	210	210	100%
95	CHIJ (Toa Payoh)	210	210	100%
96	CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’	210	210	100%
97	Concord	210	210	100%
98	Frontier	210	210	100%
99	Hong Wen	210	210	100%
100	Methodist Girls’	210	210	100%
101	Queenstown	210	210	100%
102	River Valley	210	210	100%
103	Riverside	210	210	100%
104	West Spring	210	210	100%
105	Xinmin	210	210	100%
106	Zhenghua	210	210	100%
107	Telok Kurau	214	240	89%
108	Chongzheng	220	220	100%
109	Xishan	220	220	100%
110	Yishun	220	220	100%
111	Pei Hwa Presbyterian	224	224	100%
112	North Vista	229	240	95%
113	Palm View	232	240	97%
114	Jurong	235	240	98%
115	Anglo-Chinese (Primary)	240	240	100%
116	Bukit Panjang	240	240	100%
117	Canberra	240	240	100%
118	Catholic High	240	240	100%
119	CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity	240	240	100%
120	Chua Chu Kang	240	240	100%
121	Compassvale	240	240	100%
122	De La Salle	240	240	100%
123	Fern Green	240	240	100%
124	Gongshang	240	240	100%
125	Horizon	240	240	100%
126	Huamin	240	240	100%
127	Junyuan	240	240	100%
128	Keming	240	240	100%
129	Kheng Cheng	240	240	100%
130	Kuo Chuan Presbyterian	240	240	100%
131	Lakeside	240	240	100%
132	Nan Hua	240	240	100%
133	Naval Base	240	240	100%
134	Ngee Ann	240	240	100%
135	North View	240	240	100%
136	Northland	240	240	100%
137	Oasis	240	240	100%
138	Poi Ching	240	240	100%
139	Punggol Green	240	240	100%
140	Punggol View	240	240	100%
141	Qifa	240	240	100%
142	Red Swastika	240	240	100%
143	Sengkang Green	240	240	100%
144	Springdale	240	240	100%
145	St. Andrew’s Junior	240	240	100%
146	St. Anthony’s	240	240	100%
147	St. Joseph’s Institution Junior	240	240	100%
148	Tampines	240	240	100%
149	Waterway	240	240	100%
150	Wellington	240	240	100%
151	Westwood	240	240	100%
152	Valour	240	240	100%
153	Punggol Cove	261	280	93%
154	Clementi	267	280	95%
155	Anglo-Chinese (Junior)	270	270	100%
156	Fairfield Methodist	270	270	100%
157	Geylang Methodist	270	270	100%
158	Holy Innocents’	270	270	100%
159	Kong Hwa	270	270	100%
160	Maris Stella High	270	270	100%
161	Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’	270	270	100%
162	Raffles Girls’	270	270	100%
163	Rosyth	270	270	100%
164	Rulang	270	270	100%
165	South View	270	270	100%
166	St. Hilda’s	270	270	100%
167	Angsana	280	280	100%
168	Fernvale	280	280	100%
169	Tampines North	280	280	100%
170	Northshore	280	280	100%
171	Ai Tong	300	300	100%
172	Chongfu	300	300	100%
173	Henry Park	300	300	100%
174	Mee Toh	300	300	100%
175	Nan Chiau	300	300	100%
176	Pei Chun Public	300	300	100%
177	Bukit View	320	320	100%
178	Maha Bodhi	330	330	100%
179	Tao Nan	360	360	100%
180	Nanyang	390	390	100%

We know which schools might move next 😅