SINGAPORE - It will be a while before tuition centres can reopen and help students prepare for national examinations.

The Ministry of Education, which announced on Tuesday (May 19) that schools will be opening in phases from June 2, said tuition lessons, as well as programmes run by self-help groups, will not resume.

The authorities decided to suspend all centre-based classes from March 27 to reduce the mixing of students from different schools.

And although tuition operators switched to online classes, many parents felt that these were not as helpful as face-to-face instruction. Those who felt shortchanged even started petitions against the centres, with some asking for fees to be refunded or discounted.

MOE centre-based lessons, though, will resume for graduating cohorts from June 2, with additional safe management measures in place. These are lessons for students sitting language, art and music examinations.

MOE quoted the same reason, of reducing intermingling among students, for the continued suspension of co-curricular activities and cancelling all National School Games competitions.

The ministry said the games will be cancelled as there is not enough time to complete the season within the school calendar.

In addition, students would not be adequately prepared for the competitions due to lack of training.

Some 60,000 student-athletes compete across 29 sports in the NSG, originally scheduled for January to August.

Taking into consideration that students may not be sufficiently prepared physically, MOE also said that the National Physical Fitness Award (Napfa) this year will be cancelled.