Singapore will see all students in primary, secondary, junior college (JC) and Millennia Institute (MI) students, as well as students from special education schools shift to full Home-Based Learning (HBL) from May 19 till the end of their term on 28 May 2021.
This was announced by the country’s multi-ministerial Covid-19 task force on May 16. No further tightening of Covid-19 measures for the wider community was announced then.
In a press conference, newly minted Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said, “We make the move with the full knowledge that our schools can draw on their experiences in executing the full home-based learning last year, and we are prepared to transition to online teaching and learning.”
He added that the move was taken due to the spike in the number of community cases, and also revealed that the B1617 variant of the Covid-19 virus has been shown to affect children more, and therefore, these steps were taken.
The decision also comes after several primary school students tested positive for Covid-19 in recent days, with most of the infections linked to tuition centres.
The announcement came just two days after the government tightened restrictions in Singapore, including banning on-premise dining and reducing gatherings to two people with effect from May 16.
Despite the discovery of more community cases, including 18 unlinked ones announced on May 16, no further tightening measures were mentioned at the press conference that day.
At the press conference, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was asked why authorities did not go straight into another circuit breaker, given the rising number of community cases recently. "This is a particularly difficult time to answer that question because you can see the cases rising, and whether the trajectory goes exponentially or flattens...which direction it goes, we will only know in the coming days," said Ong.
He pointed out that it was only the first day of the tightened measures, with restrictions on "high risk settings", where there are individuals without masks in enclosed spaces.
"By removing the most risky settings, I think we will make an impact. And furthermore, there is also an indirect impact because once these (F&B) places are closed (for dining in), the general activity (does) go down," said Ong, who added that with home-based learning starting next week, activities in the community will be reduced even further.
See more: Singapore tightens community measures further as Covid cases spike, WFH to be default
Schools to still support students in HBL
With the new measures, the Education Ministry said preschools and student care centres will remain open to support parents who need to work. However, it also added as work-from-home will be the default mode at workplaces, parents are encouraged to keep their children at home during this period where possible.
Chan elaborated that this does not mean that school will be completely closed, but they will be open to “support children with higher needs.”
While he did not specify what are these “higher needs” in the press conference, Singapore did open schools for children of essential workers and vulnerable students in 2020 during the circuit breaker. Singapore media reported this was about 4,000 students, or 1% of students across primary, secondary schools and junior colleges.
MOE said, “in particular, parents working in essential services or are unable to secure alternative care arrangements, may approach their children’s primary schools for assistance.”
This time around, schools will allow graduating cohorts to come back in small groups where necessary during the June holidays, and the mid-year GCE O- and A-Level Mother Tongue Language examinations will proceed as planned and with strict safe management measures in place.
During this phase, schools will continue to provide instructions and support for students to access their HBL materials and assist students who may require digital devices or internet access.
MOE also reassured parents that students can rely on the ongoing support of their teachers and other school personnel who will continue to work from home or from school.
School staff will also keep in regular contact with them and their parents. Likewise, special education schools teachers will provide students in special education schools as well as their parents with HBL support, and maintain regular contact.
As for Institutes of Higher Learning, they will “reduce attendance on campus” by converting more classes to online learning where possible, with the exception of essential in-person sessions such as labs, practicals and final year projects. These will continue to be conducted in person with the necessary measures in place.
All centre-based tuition and enrichment classes should move activities online so as to reduce the intermingling of students from different schools. These measures will hold until June 13, or until further notice.
While there is still no evidence of school-based transmission, Chan said, “We must work on the assumption that now and then, there will be cases that will emerge in our community and perhaps in our schools… What is of course of concern to us, will be the outside school activities and interactions.”
Chan also said that Singapore must be prepared to “live in a world where this Covid-19 virus could be endemic in society.” As such, the country must find new ways to continue learning in a safe environment and converting all schools to assume this option may not be a sustainable solution.,
He pointed out the there are limitations to full HBL, saying if community cases are low and stable in the future, and infections are discovered in schools, MOE may try other ways, such as “ring-fencing the affected schools by converting the affected school to home-based learning, while allowing the rest of the schools to continue with physical schooling.”
