SINGAPORE - Registration for children starting Primary 1 (P1) in 2020 will begin on July 3 and end on Oct 31, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on Thursday (May 23).

All primary schools will be open from 8am to 11am and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm from Mondays to Fridays during the registration period, the ministry said in a statement.

Children born between Jan 2, 2013, and Jan 1, 2014, have to be registered at the exercise for admission to P1 next January.

The list of primary schools and vacancies available can be found on the MOE's P1 Registration website.

The earlier phases - 1 and 2A - are for children whose siblings are current pupils of the school, and children whose parents are members of the alumni association, or who are members of the school advisory or management committee.

Phase 1 starts on July 3 and Phase 2A on July 9.

Parents registering their younger children under Phase 1 can submit the registration form and documents through their older children, who will receive the form from their schools.

Phase 2B, which starts on July 22, is for children whose parents have volunteered in schools, have affiliations to churches or clan associations linked to the schools, or are active community leaders.

For Phases 2A and 2B, parents can submit the registration form and documents at their school of choice.

Those with no links to the schools will have to register in Phase 2C, starting on July 30.

Parents can also register their children in Phase 2C and 2C Supplementary via the Primary One Internet System (P1-IS) using their SingPass.

P1-IS will be available 24 hours a day from 9am on July 29 to 4.30pm on July 31 for Phase 2C registration, and from 9am on Aug 12 to 4.30pm the next day for Phase 2C Supplementary.

The Phase 3 registration for international students will begin in late October.

They will have to undergo a two-step process, starting with the submission of an online "indication of interest" form on the MOE P1 website from June 4 to 10.

Those who have completed the first step and are notified in October that they can be offered a P1 place must register in person at the designated school during Phase 3.

The ministry said that the online "indication of interest" is not considered as registration.

Admission during Phase 3 is not guaranteed, as there are limited vacancies after places have been allocated to children who are Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

In its statement, the MOE also announced fresh plans for Valour Primary School and Northshore Primary School, which were previously due to begin operations and admit their first P1 cohorts next year.

The MOE said that Valour Primary's premises will now be ready only in February next year, due to delays in construction.

The ministry said that more time is needed to seek professional advice and address design considerations. It is the first time that the MOE is using the pre-fabricated pre-finished volumetric construction (PPVC) technology in the construction of new schools.

Valour Primary and MOE Kindergarten @ Valour will continue to admit its first cohorts next year, but the school will operate from nearby Punggol Cove Primary for one term, from Jan 2 to March 13.

Valour Primary and its co-located kindergarten will then operate from its permanent campus at 49 Punggol Central from March 23 next year, after the one-week school holiday.

The MOE said that Punggol Cove Primary and Valour Primary, including their respective kindergartens, will operate independently but share common facilities, such as the canteen and library.

Meanwhile, the Northshore Primary and MOE Kindergarten @ Northshore campus is on track to be ready by January next year, but its opening will be delayed to 2021 instead. It is also being built using PPVC.

The co-located campus is situated in a new housing estate in Punggol North, where demand is expected to be very low, since the first batch of Build-To-Order flats there will be completed only in the second quarter of 2020.

Children who have secured places in primary schools under the home-school distance priority scheme will be required to live at the address for at least 30 months from the start of the P1 registration exercise, the MOE said.

If the child's grandparent or the parent's sibling is the caregiver of the child, parents may register their child using the address of the caregiver.

Starting from this year's exercise, only one parent would need to submit the statutory declaration form and documents in person at the MOE customer service centre.

The caregiver does not need to be present at the centre.

Those found to have supplied false information will be referred to the police for investigation.