SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Education (MOE) has postponed its requirement for students to use either the TraceTogether token or app on their mobile phones for entry to schools until all tokens are given out.

The announcement comes after the Government said the public should wait for their constituencies to be served due to long queues at collection centres.

Previously announced MOE guidelines required the use of TraceTogether in schools from Dec 1, with December as the grace period when students' NRIC or student passes can still be scanned.

These are in line with broader changes to regulations that have kicked in recently, which required the TraceTogether app or token for entry to venues like restaurants, workplaces and shopping malls by end December.

The current digital check-in system, SafeEntry, will no longer be sufficient then.

The MOE said then that parents and students are encouraged to collect and carry their TraceTogether tokens on them, as students may not have access to their mobile phones at all times.

It promised that school staff will help the students as they transition to using TraceTogether.

The TraceTogether app and token work by exchanging short-distance Bluetooth signals with other TraceTogether apps or tokens nearby.

This proximity data, which is encrypted and stored for 25 days before being automatically deleted, allows for faster contact tracing.

More than 50 per cent of the population is on the TraceTogether programme now, with long queues on Oct 24 at some of the 38 community centres and clubs where the tokens are distributed.

Education Minister Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19, had said last month that a 70 per cent take-up rate for the TraceTogether app is one of the conditions that could help Singapore get to phase three of its reopening, under which groups of up to eight people may be able to gather and other restrictions relaxed.