Minister of State for Education Sun Xueling has clarified on Tuesday (15 December) that it is not compulsory for students to have a TraceTogether token in schools just yet.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) previously stated that all schools will begin “gradual implementation” of TraceTogether-only Safe Entry from 1 December 2020.
Students were encouraged to bring the TraceTogether token to school, as it noted that students may not have access to their mobile phones all the time during classes or outdoor activities.
MOE subsequently withdrew the requirement on 3 November, stating that it will only take effect after all the tokens have been collected.
CNA reported that the MOE’s guidelines were updated to reflect the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office’s (SNDGO) statement, which said that the TraceTogether-only SafeEntry will only be enforced after everyone who needs a token has collected it.
The distribution of TraceTogether tokens at community centres was temporarily suspended due to long queues formed at some collection points, before being resumed on 29 October with one constituency at a time to “better match demand”.
Now that Singapore is set to enter Phase Three of its post-COVID circuit breaker reopening on 28 December, Ms Sun made a clarification that the use of TraceTogether tokens at school has yet to be made mandatory by the government.
Primary and Secondary schools will reopen on 4 January, while Junior Colleges and the Millenia Institue are set to resume on 29 January.
“I clarified that TraceTogether tokens are only needed in schools when nationwide, all tokens have been given out,” she wrote on Facebook.
“So parents, if the trace together token distribution has not yet reached your town, do not worry. It is not mandatory yet for your child to have a tracetogether token when school reopens,” Ms Sun added.
Netizens question if such is due to TraceTogether tokens being out of stock
Following Ms Sun’s clarification that TraceTogether tokens are not yet compulsory at schools, netizens commented on The Straits Times’ Facebook page to question if it was due to the tokens currently being out of stock.
