Friday, May 3, 2013

Returning Singaporeans - School Procedure

Being attached 2 years overseas for children that are coming to age to leaving the Primary School when they return has left me with lots of stress.

Firstly, trying to deal with Ministry of Education (MOE) procedures is already enough to cause the stress. It sounds simple from the website but they have so many hidden areas that are not clear. I tried doing search over the internet but couldn't find one that really answers to my question. I have to clarify again and again with MOE. I send a few e-mails to them and sometimes the e-mail don't come back with a satisfied reply to my question and I have call them. This alone is enough of agitation as waiting for the e-mail to come back with a reply takes 3-4 days and when they don't come back with the answer you want, it will take another few more days.

After going through all these agitation, it has finally been clear. I thought it would be good to share this information with those who also encounter the same and in hope this will help in some way to clarify MOE's - Overseas Returning Singaporeans Procedure instead of going round and round in their website.

If your child is heading to Primary 1 when you return, this is very clear cut. If you have registered your child into the school of your choice, you can enter with no problem. That is if you are returning before the school term starts. However, if you return after school start, be sure to apply for Leave of Absence (LOA) as this will ensure a place for your child and he/she can join back to the school with no issues.

 As for other levels eg. Primary 2,Primary 3...., this is easier. You can join back if you have LOA with no problems too.

Ok... for Primary 6, this gets complicated. If you are to return before the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) which starts in August, then there aren't any issue. If not, you can apply for the School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans — Secondary (SPERS-Sec)This examination takes place somewhere else which is not within MOE building from what I understand from the website. Registration usually starts in July. The examination will take place in October. If you are unable to make it for the October, there is also one in December. This examination will test the child English (Composition and Main Paper) and Mathematics.

Well, if you are unable to make it for the SPERS, MOE recommends that you approach the school directly of your choice for placement. However, I have read a few reviews that people have encountered problems in putting their child back into the school. I am not sure though is it because they try to put their child into good schools that is why they are encountering problems. MOE do assist to parents in school placement but they recommend you to do it yourself. If you encounter problems, you can approach them but this will take a while for them to process. Alternatively, you can also apply online for school placement but your child must not have an existing LOA.