June school holidays brought forward to May 5
Lessons to resume on June 2 and students will get a one-week break in July
The June school holidays will be brought forward and begin on May 5, to coincide with the one-month extension of the national circuit breaker period announced yesterday.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) said: "While home-based learning has been going well, it has been an intense period of hard work and adjustment for parents, students and teachers. An early June holiday will give everyone a respite. It also buys us time for a less restrictive school opening in June."
With school holidays starting earlier, lessons will resume on June 2, MOE said. More details on the format of the lessons will follow later.
This means that Term 3 will now be longer, but MOE said a one-week mid-term break will take place from July 20 to 26.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Early Childhood Development Agency announced last night that kindergartens will commence school holidays on May 5 and reopen on June 2.
In tandem with the extension of circuit breaker measures, the suspension of general services by pre-schools, student care centres, special student care centres, and early intervention centres will be extended to June 1.
However, childcare centres will continue to remain open to accommodate a small group of parents working in essential services such as healthcare.
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday in a Facebook post: "By June 1, hopefully, the situation will be much better, and we can look forward to a safe and orderly opening of schools."
Acknowledging that this period of home-based learning has not been easy for families, Mr Ong said it cannot be a prolonged substitute for attending school, but a "fallback when schools are suspended".
"It is better to let everyone have a break from this intense period," he added.
In light of the changes, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board will reschedule the mid-year mother tongue language (MTL) written examinations.
The O-level and A-level H1 MTL papers 1 and 2 scheduled for June 1 will be rescheduled to June 18, and the O-level and A-level MTL B papers 1 and 2 on June 2 will be shifted to June 19.
The listening comprehension for O- and A-level MTL and MTL B will be rescheduled from July 21 and 22 respectively to July 27.
ANXIETY
The ministry noted that even with the adjustments, students in graduating cohorts will continue to face some anxiety.
It will arrange more consultations and face-to-face lessons with students when the situation improves. Schools will also help other students cope with the year-end school examinations, and MOE will guide schools further on how to make adjustments.
Students who do not have support at home will continue to be supported by a small group of teachers in schools.
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