Since the announcement of the tightened safe distancing measures and the suspension of tuition and enrichment centres, MOE has received many queries. Here are answers to the top few questions. Hope they are useful.

1) If tuition and enrichment centres have so few students per class and yet are suspended, why are schools still open?

The decision to suspend lessons at tuition and enrichment centres is not based on the number of students in the class, or the type of activity conducted.

Our focus is on the risk of spreading the virus, while maintaining daily life as much as possible.

For an adult, work is essential, entertainment less so. Hence we closed entertainment outlets. For a student, school is essential, but tuition and enrichment are not.

In school, we have arranged things such that students pretty much mingle only with their classmates. So if (touch wood) there is a confirmed case in school, we are able to contact trace very quickly and control the risk of virus spread by quarantining the class.

However, if there is a confirmed case in a tuition centre, it may mean students from many schools are at risk.

Hence we have suspended classes at all MOE language centres, as well as private tuition and enrichment centres.

2) How can we ensure that students who travelled, or have family members who travelled to the UK, US or ASEAN countries do not come to school?

We had asked for travel declarations before the March holidays. Our experience so far is that students take their travel declarations seriously.

When school reopened this week, school staff also conducted checks on every student at the gate, to ensure that only those who had not travelled out of Singapore were allowed to be in school.

In addition, students are likely to tell their friends about their travels, and so their classmates will alert the teachers if these students somehow manage to get into class.

Nonetheless, this is about social responsibility. So we seek parents’ cooperation to make truthful travel declarations, whether it is for yourself, or your children, so as not to put other children at risk.

3) Are Student Care Centres (SCC) going to remain open?

We are trying to keep work and school, which are essential for adults and children, going. SCCs are important in ensuring that work can continue; they help to care for students so that parents, especially those in the essential services like healthcare, can focus on their work. So yes, they will remain open but more precautions will be taken.

4) Even if schools are safe, our students may still be at risk when they take public transportation because it is still very crowded.

We understand the concern. The Government is making a big push for more employers to allow their staff to work from home, or allow for flexible hours. So there will be fewer people on our transport systems during peak periods, and hence less risk of infection. Many parents have suggested staggered hours and other measures for older students, to help reduce commuter traffic volume. MOE is actively considering them.

But do bear in mind how the virus is transmitted. By touching your face, or through prolonged exposure to an infected person, such as talking to him at close range for a long time. So cutting down on conversations on public transport, and washing your hands before and after your journey and not touching you face will go a long way.

Click here for more FAQs: https://www.moe.gov.sg/addressing-top-covid-19-concerns