The Ministry of Education (MOE) is looking into the possibility of discontinuing free parking in public schools for staff who park their vehicles in school compounds.

This development was reported on Jan. 7, 2016, by The Straits Times, which reported off the original scoop by Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.

Zaobao reported that the ministry has been discussing the issue of whether public schools should continue to not charge staff for parking space in school compounds since the start of 2015.

Currently, parking remains free at the primary and secondary schools and junior colleges for school staff.

However, the discrepancy over paid parking is due to the fact that all other public service organisations, including the Education Ministry, charge parking fees at their offices.

The Auditor-General Office's (AGO) report in 2015 had highlighted how not imposing parking charges, or charging below market rate for the use of car parks, are tantamount to providing hidden subsidies for vehicle parking.

The report pointed out that the estimated amount of parking fees forgone by the Institute of Technical Education alone for not charging users for its car park was $66,000 a month.

Besides the ITE, the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and the Temasek Polytechnic (TP) had not been imposing parking charges, or charging below market rate, for the use of their car parks.

According to the report, SP implemented paid parking only in May 2013, while TP implemented paid parking only in June 2014.

SP's staff, tenants, and contractors, paid below the market rate, while TP capped its daily car park charges at $1.50 for staff, and $6.00 for other users.

Both the polys and the ITE had to review their parking charges.

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