Errors on Onemap School Query System Affecting Parents' Choice of School for Primary One Registration

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Pritam Singh, Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Singapore Land Authority has uncovered any glitches or errors on the OneMap School Query service including inaccurately reflecting the distance between a place of residence and the 1km or 1-2km radius of any school; and (b) what recourse do parents have when they rely on incorrect information from such glitches or errors, if any, to make choices related to their choice of preferred school for the Primary 1 admission exercise.

Response

1. The home-school distance category shown on OneMap SchoolQuery is the official distance measurement that MOE uses for Primary 1 Registration when balloting is required.

2. When utilizing the OneMap SchoolQuery function for Primary Schools, users are informed that home-school distance information is updated annually by June, prior to the start of the year's Primary 1 Registration Exercise which is conducted from July to August. This is to incorporate the latest changes in residential and school developments. In computing the home-school distance, the SLA system uses the latest available information submitted by the Qualified Person engaged by the developer or owner of the property to BCA. This approach has been consistently applied and MOE has not uncovered any "error" or "glitch" in the computation of home-school distance categories on SLA's OneMap SchoolQuery.

3. Members of the public who have queries on updated changes in home-school distance categories, can approach MOE, which will look into such cases together with the relevant agencies.