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Lying about residential addresses has become a common practice among parents in Singapore to get their children into reputable schools.
A law that considers home-school distance as a basis for priority in primary school admission has been implemented in Singapore. This means that when the demand for school slots surpasses the number of vacancies, children who reside in close proximity—or within a kilometer of the school—will have the highest priority. Those living outside the one-kilometer distance will be given less priority.
As a result, some parents go to great lengths to deceive schools. Some attempt to declare false addresses, while some purchase a property near the school and eventually move out of the place once their children earn admission.
These acts of dishonesty urged the Ministry of Education to amend the said law by imposing a two-and-a-half-year residency at the declared address as a requirement for applying. Parents caught breaking the law can be either imprisoned or fined. Students with parents who committed such wrongdoings will be moved to another school with available slots.
Real estate executive Eugene Lim supports the amendment because he believes that it can end the said practice, which he perceives as an offensive system.
Some parents also shared their opinions on the issue. One father asserted that guilty parents should be penalized accordingly because they should have known the risks that came with their actions. One mother also said that she disapproves of exposing children to lying because it can cause children to distrust their parents when they grow up.