In light of the circuit breaker that began on 7 April, Basic Training Activities had been suspended and all trainees were instructed to stay at home.
Nonetheless, the Government has confirmed yesterday (19 May) that Singapore will be exiting circuit breaker on 1 June, adding that many plans are gradually being laid out to re-open the services and business.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released an official statement yesterday in regards to the plan to resume basic training for the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
According to the statement, these two Forces will progressively resume basic training for two batches of full-time national servicemen (NSF) – whose training was suspended during the circuit breaker period. It was explained that the resumption of basic training is necessary to ensure the continued development of commanders and NSFs for deployment to frontline units in SPF and SCDF.
In order to facilitate the safe distancing measures, about 1,700 SPF and SCDF trainees in total will be notified of their reporting dates, which are set between 26 May and 8 June 2020.
“About 1,700 SPF and SCDF trainees in total will be notified of their reporting dates, which are between 26 May and 8 June 2020. The reporting dates are staggered to facilitate the implementation of safe distancing measures.”
Precautionary measures will also be carried out to ensure the health and safety of the trainees. The statement described that all trainees and instructors will go through health screening when they report back to their respective training institutions.
People who display respiratory infection symptoms will be immediately separated from the others and tested for COVID-19, as announced in the statement.
Other precautionary measures such as twice-daily temperature taking, staggered meal times, donning of masks, as well as frequent cleaning of equipment and common areas will be enforced as well.
The MHA explained that trainees will be required to wear a face mask at all times, except during meal times and strenuous activities like physical training.
The Ministry also noted that the training will be carried out in smaller groups.
The SPF relayed the same message on its Facebook page yesterday, notifying the public on the upcoming plans to resume basic training.
