Primary school pupils will need to take an antigen rapid test (ART) every two weeks until school closes for the holidays next month, said the Ministry of Education (MOE).
In a letter addressed to parents and guardians on digital portal Parents Gateway yesterday, MOE said 10 ART kits will be distributed to each pupil from next Monday.
That means parents will not need to buy more ART kits for their children.
Regular testing will help inculcate social responsibility among pupils and keep schools safe for learning, said MOE.
The new testing regime will require pupils to perform the ART swab at stipulated times.
The first test must be taken by Oct 31 and the second must be taken by Nov 14.
Parents and guardians will need to supervise children when they take the ART, MOE said.
Once a result is obtained, parents can submit it on a link provided by their child's school.
If it is positive, pupils must inform the school through the form teacher immediately, said MOE.
Pupils who test positive for Covid-19 and are unwell will be sent to a Swab and Send Home Public Health Preparedness Clinic for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Meanwhile, those who get a positive ART result but feel well are required to self-isolate for 72 hours before taking another ART. They can end their isolation when the result is negative, MOE added.
The new rules for children come at a time when Covid-19 case numbers in the community have remained high, with 3,480 infections reported on Tuesday.
Of these, 201 were children aged 11 and below. Those in this age group are currently not yet eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.
Since Oct 13, all primary school pupils have resumed in-person classes. However, pupils did not need to report to school this week because of the PSLE marking exercise, which usually takes place over four days.
Friday will also be a holiday, said MOE, in what it called an "exceptional year".
Some parents, however, questioned the usefulness of taking an ART.
A civil servant who has a son in Primary 4 and wanted to be known only as Shah B, 41, said: "Elsewhere, ART results are valid for up to 24 hours only, so what's the rationale behind primary school pupils being tested every two weeks?"
In response to queries, Professor Paul Tambyah, a senior consultant at the National University Hospital's Division of Infectious Diseases, said the effectiveness of these tests in encouraging pupils to be socially responsible will depend on how testing is done.
He said: "Although ART tests are a lot less onerous than nasopharyngeal swabs for PCR, they can also be uncomfortable for children with nasal allergies. There is also the risk that children will go to school while symptomatic, if they have recently had a negative ART test, given the false negative rate."
Yesterday, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said at a press conference that regular testing of pupils is meant as an additional layer of protection to minimise the spread of Covid-19 infections in school and the emergence of large clusters there.
"These are ways in which we can continue to as much as possible carry out normal activities but ensure that these are done safely," said Mr Wong, who is also co-chairman of the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19.
• Additional reporting by Ng Wei Kai
