Is home-schooling right for our family? Questions to ask in Singapore

Families come to home-schooling for many reasons, and most have more than one:

• Learning needs. A child who needs more challenge, more time or a different approach than a large class can offer.
• Wellbeing. Stress, anxiety, health conditions or a child who is unhappy at school.
• Values and faith. A wish to put family values or faith at the centre of learning.
• Pace and pressure. A desire to step back from the intensity of the school and tuition routine, especially in the early years.
• Lifestyle. Travel, a family business or a particular talent in sport or the arts.

Write down your own reasons. They will shape what success looks like for your family, and MOE will want to understand your plan.

Singapore Citizens born after 1 January 1996 and living in Singapore must attend a national primary school unless they are exempted. Home-schooling needs an exemption from MOE, which assesses each application case by case.

MOE's conditions include an academic learning plan for English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science, a plan for Character and Citizenship Education, and the necessary qualifications. MOE has said parents need the capability to teach effectively and to provide a holistic learning environment.

MOE has also said parents submit annual progress reports and that MOE officers make home visits. MOE reports around 70 applications a year, with nearly all approved.

This is the part of home-schooling in Singapore that most shapes the day-to-day. Children exempted from compulsory education must sit the PSLE and meet MOE's benchmark, which MOE has described as pegged to the 33rd percentile of national primary school students taking four standard-level subjects.

It is not a formality. In 2019, MOE reported that 14 of 43 exempted home-schooled children from that cohort did not meet the benchmark and would need to re-attempt the PSLE. A Primary 4 assessment along the way helps you see whether your child is on track.

Ask yourself whether you are comfortable teaching to this standard in all four subjects, including Mother Tongue, through to Primary 6.

After the PSLE, school pupils are placed in Posting Groups 1, 2 or 3 under Full Subject-Based Banding, which sets the starting level of their subjects in Secondary 1.

MOE has noted that many home-schoolers enrol in secondary schools after the PSLE, and that it does not track home-schooling at secondary level because those children are outside the Compulsory Education Act. If secondary school is part of your plan, ask MOE early how your child would join the posting exercise.

• Learning at the right pace, without waiting for the class or being rushed along.
• Time for depth and interests, from reading widely to sport, music or projects.
• Calmer days for children who find large groups or tight schedules hard.
• Closer family relationships and more say in values and character.

• Income and time. One parent usually works less, and there is no government home-schooling allowance, although Edusave contributions continue for Singapore Citizens aged 7 to 16.
• Mother Tongue. Teaching a second language to PSLE standard is hard if it isn't your strongest language.
• Friendships. Without school and CCAs, social time needs deliberate planning.
• Pressure on you. You are teacher, parent and planner, with MOE checkpoints along the way.
• A small community. Fewer families home-school in Singapore than in some countries, so support networks are smaller.

• Why do we want to home-school, and what would success look like in a year? In five?
• Can we teach English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science to PSLE standard, or afford help where we can't?
• Can our household manage on the income we will have?
• How will our child spend regular time with other children?
• If our child has special educational needs, have we looked at the support available in mainstream and SPED schools?
• What would make us decide to return to school, and are we comfortable with that?