Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The 41-year-old woman pleaded guilty to two charges of giving false information to a public servant.
SINGAPORE – A woman was convicted of lying about her home address to enrol her daughter in a primary school on Sept 24.
The 41-year-old woman pleaded guilty to offences including giving false information to a public servant.
She cannot be named because of a gag order to protect her child’s identity.
Court documents showed that she gave false information to the principal and vice-principal of the school about her address between June and September 2024.
The school’s name was redacted from charge sheets.
The woman had given the address of her flat, which was near the school, when enrolling her daughter for Primary 1 in 2023.
However, neither she nor her daughter resided in the unit, as it had been rented out.
Both of them live in her partner’s flat located elsewhere.
In June 2024, the school’s admin manager alerted the vice-principal after the woman sent an e-mail requesting a change in her records, with a new address outside the 2km radius of the school.
Under Ministry of Education (MOE) regulations, a child who gains priority admission through the distance category must reside at the address used for registration for at least 30 months from the start of the Primary 1 registration exercise.
When she was told that changing the address would violate the 30-month stay requirement, the woman said they would remain at the same address.
On Aug 6, 2024, the vice-principal of the school met the woman to verify her address. She told the vice-principal that she and her daughter lived at the flat from Monday to Thursday.
But after the meeting, she told her tenants at the flat to shutter the windows from 7am to 11pm. The tenants were also told to lie and say that the woman and her daughter lived in the unit.
School staff visited the flat on Aug 20, 2024, but did not find the mother and daughter there. The tenants were also evasive when asked about their whereabouts.
On Sept 20, 2024, the school held another meeting with the woman, where she told the principal and vice-principal again that she was living in the flat.
However, the school informed the mother in October that year that her daughter would be transferred out of the school.
Meeting the principal and the vice-principal, the woman said she would terminate the lease. She also said she would live there with her daughter.
Despite her plea, the school lodged a report against her in November 2024.
The woman, who was unrepresented, pleaded in court for a fine. She said she is a single mother who has to provide for her two children.
“I cannot go to jail, and I hope for a lighter fine as my two children have no father. I am their only support, and they are still very young,” she added.
The judge adjourned sentencing to Nov 13.
Those convicted of giving false information to a public servant and intending for the public servant to omit the true state of facts can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, an MOE spokesperson said the child was transferred into another school following the conclusion of their investigations.
The spokesperson added that MOE takes a serious view of parents providing false information for the purpose of enrolling their child in a particular school under the P1 registration exercise.
“If a child is found to have been registered in a school based on false information, such as the use of an address solely for registration purposes without residing there, or if the 30-month stay requirement had not been fulfilled, MOE will transfer the child to another school with vacancies near where the child is staying.
“MOE retains sole discretion in the choice of the school to transfer the child for such cases.”
The spokesperson added that it is an offence to give false information to a public officer, and parents who have done so will be referred to the police for investigation.
[SRC] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/woman-convicted-of-lying-about-home-address-to-enrol-daughter-in-primary-school
