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COVID-19: No in-person applications for P1 registration exercise this year

SINGAPORE - MARCH 24:  Students undergo temperature checks at the gate before entering school on March 24, 2020 in Singapore. The Ministry of Health has reported 54 new COVID-19 cases in new high, bringing the country's total to 509.  (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
Students undergo temperature checks at the gate before entering a primary school in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — There will not be any in-person application at schools for the Primary One (P1) registration exercise from 1 July to 30 October, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a media release on Wednesday (27 May) that changes will be made to the mode of registration for three phases: 2A(1), 2A(2) and 2B. Phases 1, 2C and 2C Supplementary will largely remain the same.

The dates for the different phases of registration can be found here, while the list of primary schools and vacancies available will be updated on the P1 Registration website by mid-June. Information on the P1 Registration Exercise is also available as part of the Primary School Education Booklet, which can be downloaded here.

All children born between 2 January 2014 and 1 January 2015 (both dates inclusive) must either participate in this year’s P1 registration exercise for admission in January 2021, or enrol in the Junior 1/P1 Programme of a special education school.

INFOGRAPHIC: Ministry of Education
INFOGRAPHIC: Ministry of Education

Registration to be done via online forms, P1 Internet System

Instead of in-person registration for Phases 2A(1), 2A(2) and 2B, eligible parents will be required to complete an online application form to register their child, using their SingPass.

The link to the online form and user guide will be available on the MOE P1 Registration website during the registration periods of the respective phases.

Parents registering their younger child under Phase 1 (1 to 2 July, for a child who has an older sibling studying the school of choice) will receive and be required to submit the application form and relevant documents to the school via email.

The primary school where the older sibling is currently studying will provide parents with details on how to register their younger child under Phase 1.

Parents who are registering their child under Phases 2C (3 to 5 August) and 2C Supplementary (19 to 20 August), under which all Singapore citizen or permanent resident (PR) children are eligible, should use the existing Primary One Internet System (P1-IS) to register for their choice of school.

They are advised to set up their SingPass Two-Step Verification early when registering via the online forms or via P1-IS. They should also ensure that their SingPass account is valid before the commencement of the P1 registration exercise.

Parents who require assistance during registration may contact the school of their choice via email or telephone on the respective registration days between 9am and 4.30pm. Links to the online forms, user guides, declaration process and eligibility criteria can be found here.

Cap on intake of PR children at 10 primary schools

With effect from this year’s P1 registration exercise, MOE will be introducing a cap on the intake of PR children, to prevent concentration of PR children in primary schools. This will provide a more conducive environment to encourage interaction between Singaporean and PR children, and facilitate the integration of PR children into Singapore.

The cap, which will be about 25 to 30 per cent of the school’s planned P1 intake, will be applied in Phases 2C and 2C Supplementary only.

Its introduction will not result in any change to the priority that Singaporean children have over PR children. If there are more registrants than vacancies in a school during any registration phase, Singapore citizens will continue to be admitted first ahead of PRs, before home-school distance is considered.

The cap will take effect in the following 10 primary schools this year: Bukit Timah, Bukit View, Changkat, Greendale, Marymount Convent, North Spring, Opera Estate, Pioneer, Tanjong Katong and Xingnan.

MOE will publish the maximum number of vacancies available to PR children for the 10 schools above on its website.

Delays in school infrastructure projects

Upgrading works for four primary schools have been affected by the precautionary measures taken by the Singapore government since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The schools are: Bukit View, Mayflower, Pei Hwa Presbyterian and St. Margaret’s. Their plans to either shift to a holding site, return to the permanent site or transit to a single-session school have been delayed by a year.

Meanwhile, a new primary school which was scheduled to open in Tampines North in January 2021 has also been delayed by the COVID-19 situation. It will be ready by late 2021 instead.

When the new campus is ready at its Tampines Street 61 location, MOE will relocate Angsana Primary School from its current Tampines Street 22 site to this new campus, to achieve a better overall distribution of primary school places in the area.

As Angsana Primary School will begin operations at the new site in January 2022, the current P1 to P4 cohorts, as well as those who have successfully secured a place in this year’s P1 Registration Exercise, will be affected by the relocation. For the P1 Registration Exercise, the home-school distance priority will continue to be based on Angsana Primary’s current site.

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