SINGAPORE: Students whose parents falsified their home address in order to gain priority admission for their child to a primary school could be transferred to another school, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said.

On Monday (Jan 29), a 36-year-old woman was fined S$5,000 for lying about the family’s address to the vice-principal of a popular primary school in Bishan in order to get her child priority admission. Her husband was fined S$4,000 for duping a police officer into changing the couple’s home addresses on their identity cards.



"In cases where the verdict is finalised and the parent is convicted of the charge, the child who was previously registered in a school based on false information would be transferred to another school with available vacancies," MOE said on Monday.



In this particular case, the ministry said it will decide on the "best course of action" for the student "at a later stage", as the parents have 14 days to appeal against their sentences.

"In the meantime, the school will continue to care for and ensure the well-being of the student," it added.

"MOE views the use of false addresses during the Primary One Registration Exercise as a serious matter. Where there is reason to believe that a false address may have been used, MOE will refer the case to the police for investigation."



According to the ministry, there were fewer than 10 reported cases in the last 10 years.