SINGAPORE - Students here who are still without TraceTogether tokens can collect them from their schools by the end of this month.

According to an update on the Ministry of Education (MOE) website, primary, secondary, junior college and Millennia Institute students who have not collected their tokens from the community centres and clubs (CCs) during the national distribution exercise, will be issued one by the end of March this year.

The school distribution would be carried out in phases.

"For students to receive the Token from the school, parents/guardians must raise the request through the Token request form sent out by schools," it said.

On its website, MOE said that while the TraceTogether app serves the same function as the token and that students can still use the app on their phones, they may not have access to their mobile phones all the time during classes or outdoor activities.

Students are hence encouraged to bring their TraceTogether tokens to school instead.

However, MOE said that should a student not have the TraceTogether app, or misplaces or forgets to bring his or her token to school, the student will not be denied entry to school.

"Students may still collect their Tokens at any of the CCs listed on the TokenGoWhere website if they missed the deadline to request for it via their respective schools."

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

The ministry then 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 tokens have been distributed to the public in CCs here since September last year.

Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan had first said last December that schools will be distributing the tokens to students so that they will be able to participate in the national contact tracing programme.

The app and token work by exchanging short-distance Bluetooth signals with other apps or tokens nearby. This proximity data is encrypted and stored for 25 days before being automatically deleted.