Performance Criteria for Returning Singaporeans

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether the Ministry imposes specific performance criteria that students previously enrolled in international schools will have to meet in order to seamlessly enroll in MOE schools, upon their return, at a comparable grade level.

Response

1. MOE is committed to help Returning Singaporean (RS) students to smoothly enrol in our mainstream schools.

2. For RS who were previously enrolled in a mainstream school and granted Leave of Absence (LOA), they can return to the same school upon return to Singapore.

3. For those not on the LOA or where the LOA no longer applies, we encourage RS to apply through the Assured School Placement (ASP) service, which is available throughout the year. The ASP guarantees RS a place in a school with vacancies near the child's home. The school may conduct a placement test and interview, and review the child's school records, to determine a suitable and age-appropriate level for the child to be placed in.

4. Alternatively, RS can choose to participate in the centralised merit-based School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans (SPERS), which is conducted twice a year. The RS will be posted to a school with vacancies, based on the child's SPERS test performance and indicated choices. If the indicated choices are not available, the child will be offered a school with vacancies near the child's home.