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2009 Student Transfer Exercise for Primary Schools (STEPS)

Introduction

The Student Transfer Exercise for Primary Schools, or STEPS, serves to facilitate the transfer of pupils who have relocated to another address, to schools nearer to their new residences.

The registration period for STEPS is between 23 and 25 November 2009.

Under the STEPS process, all pupils will be considered for available vacancies in a school. Provision will not be given to the parents / guardians to select a particular school for the transfer, as the pupil will automatically be considered for vacancies in the nearest school in the first instance.

The parents/guardians will be required to sign an undertaking to give up his child’s place in the current school and to accept whatever posting given to the child.

The STEPS process is as follows:

  1. Each pupil will be considered for transfer to a school which has vacancies and is nearest to his new home address.
  2. Where the school can accommodate the number of applicants assigned to it, the transfer will be effected.
  3. Where the number of applicants assigned to the school exceeds the vacancies it has, electronic balloting will be conducted to select the applicants for the vacancies. Unplaced pupils will be considered for transfer to the next nearest school with vacancies.
  4. The electronic ballot will be conducted based on the following order of priority:
    1. Children living within 1 km of the assigned school
    2. Children living between 1 and 2 km of the assigned school
    3. Children living outside 2 km and 3 km of the assigned school
  5. If there are no schools with available vacancies within 3 km of the pupilsÕ new address, these pupils will be posted back to their current school.
  6. A pupil will not be posted to a school that is further from his/her home compared to his/her current school.

STEPS is a one-stop service to assist parents / guardians in school transfers due to changes in address. It is up to parents / guardians to decide if they want to participate in STEPS, should their child satisfy the eligibility criteria. If parents/guardians prefer to directly approach the school they would like to transfer their child to, they could do so outside the period when STEPS is being conducted. (STEPS is conducted from 23 November 2009 to 18 December 2009).

A pupil seeking a transfer to Primary 5 or Primary 6 in 2010 will be posted to a school with vacancies and is nearest to his new home address, regardless of subject combination to be offered by the pupil. On successful posting to a school, the parent / guardians can disscuss with the school to decide on an appropriate subject combination. Whilst schools generally offer similar subject combinations, parents / guardians who want to ensure that the school will definitely offer the subject combination he / she wants, may wish to apply for a transfer to the school of their preference outside of STEPS.

The smooth operation of STEPS depends on parents / guardians furnishing correct information in the application form especially that of the home address. To this end, parents / guardians are required to declare that the information provided by them in the application form is correct and true. Any transfer of school resulting from false or incorrect information furnished in the application form will be nullified and in such an event, the child may be posted to any school as directed by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Eligibility to Participate in STEPS

To be eligible to participate in STEPS, the child must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. The child is a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident;
  2. The child is currently attending Primary 1 to Primary 5 in 2009;
  3. The parents / guardians have changed their residential addresses between 01 January 2008 and 25 November 2009 (both dates inclusive).

Application to Participate in 2009 STEPS

Schools will be inviting applications for 2009 STEPS from 23 November 2009 to 25 November 2009. Parents/guardians should approach their child’s existing school and submit their applications through the school.

The parents / guardians will sign an undertaking to give up the child’s place in his/her current school and to accept transfer to a school assigned by the MOE.

The parents / guardians will also need to sign an undertaking stating that they have changed their residential addresses between 01 January 2008 and 25 November 2009 (both dates inclusive).

The outcome of applications will be released on 14 December 2009. Parents / guardians would receive a letter to inform them of their child’s posted school by 14 December 2009. They may also check the results with their child’s current school or the STEPS system website using their child’s Birth Certificate number.

All pupils who are successful in the exercise will be required to report to their existing school on 15 December 2009 with their report books. They should then report to their posted school by 17 December 2009 to complete the transfer formalities.

Parents who have further queries may contact MOE’s Customer Service Centre (CSC) at DID 6872 2220 or email MOE_PPS@MOE.GOV.SG.