Statistics on Primary and Secondary School Children Homeschooled in Past Five Years and Assessment on Their Social-emotional and Character Development

Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the number of primary and secondary school children who are home-schooled currently and whether this has increased over the past five years; (b) whether the Ministry assesses or tracks the socio-emotional and character development of the home-schooled children; and (c) if so, how is the assessment done.

The number of home-schooled children has remained small and generally constant, at an average of 50 Singaporean children for each primary age cohort every year. We do not track the number of Singaporean children who are home-schooled at the secondary level as they do not come under the ambit of the Compulsory Education Act. But it is likely to be fewer than primary school for each cohort as many home-schoolers do eventually enrol in mainstream primary schools, or secondary schools after PSLE.

Each application for home schooling is approved on a case by case basis. Parents have to submit an academic learning plan, as well as a plan on how they are going to develop their child's character, deliver education in citizenship and social emotional competencies. Annually, parents are required to submit a progress report updating MOE of the progress of their child's learning in the different areas. In addition, MOE Inspectors engage parents during home visits to ascertain the delivery of the learning outcomes in the different domains.