Home-based learning for P1 to P5 pupils from Sept 27 till PSLE ends

All primary schools will start full home-based learning (HBL) for Primary 1 to Primary 5 pupils from Sept 27 until the end of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) on Oct 6 amid a spike in Covid-19 cases.

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that the measures will also apply to special education schools offering the national curriculum.

"This will better protect our younger students who are not yet medically eligible for vaccination," said MOE.

"This is to minimise the risk of school-based transmissions and reduce the number of students placed on quarantine order or leave of absence prior to the examination," said the ministry.

This year, the PSLE starts on Sept 30 and ends on Oct 6. Primary 6 pupils will go on a study break from Sept 25 to Sept 29 prior to the exam, similar to the arrangement last year.

Schools will remain open for pupils who require additional support during the period of home-based learning. Parents who are unable to work from home or secure alternative care arrangements can approach their children's schools for assistance.

MOE kindergartens, kindergarten care services and student care centres will operate normally.

Primary 6 pupils are encouraged to do an antigen rapid test (ART) with a do-it-yourself kit at home on either Sept 27 or Sept 28, and Primary 1 to Primary 5 pupils on Oct 4 or Oct 5.

This will allow for time to take a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test if necessary.

A PCR test is essential if pupils get a positive ART result or if they get two consecutive invalid ART results.

The move to HBL comes amid another wave of Covid-19 infections in Singapore.

Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said in Parliament on Tuesday that the 367 Covid-19 cases among children below age 12 account for 0.6 per cent of all local infections.

Some parents on Facebook are calling for HBL to be brought forward to tomorrow.

They think starting HBL the week of the PSLE would be too late, as some pupils might have been infected by then, having been exposed to the coronavirus in school in the intervening week.

But not all parents welcome HBL.

The Sunday Times spoke to some parents affected by the arrangement yesterday. Most thought HBL is disruptive to their children's learning, as they have difficulty focusing on online lessons.

Ms Serene Tan Siew Pei, who has four children in Primary 1, Primary 4, Secondary 1 and Sec 3, also felt that HBL would not be effective in containing the spread, as parents continue to take their children out.

The housewife, 46, thought such a measure would help reduce the risk of Covid-19 only if all other activities are also stopped, adding that since her husband can still go to work and her older children can still go to school, they might spread Covid-19 to the family anyway.

Many parents said that since Covid-19 is increasingly seen as an endemic disease and Singapore will have to live with it, it is not a feasible long-term solution for schools to keep closing.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases specialist from the Rophi Clinic, expressed concern that when HBL starts, essential workers at hospitals will be overburdened, having to juggle work and taking care of children at home.

Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said the move helps minimise disruptions to the exam, parents and pupils.

"We have gone further down the path of endemicity. Most children will have mild or asymptomatic Covid-19, and will recover fairly quickly."