Six coronavirus facts experts want you to know

SINGAPORE - Home-based learning will be rolled out at all primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and the centralised institute from Wednesday (April 1) as part of additional efforts to support safe distancing. The Ministry of Education has come up with a Parent Kit to guide parents on what to do. DEBUNKING 5 MYTHS ON HOME-BASED LEARNING Myth 1: My child must spend the whole day on the computer. Fact: Home-based learning (HBL) can consist of one or more of the following: a. E-learning (for example, online assignments through the Student Learning Space (SLS) or other online learning platforms) b. E-mail messages (for example, notes or worksheets through e-mail) c. Hardcopy assignments (for example, worksheets or textbooks) Every school has a different plan, based on the needs of their students. So don't compare, okay? Myth 2: I have only one Internet device. It is impossible for all my children to do HBL using the same device. Fact: Each ... » Learn More about Coronavirus: A guide to preparing your child for home-based learning

SINGAPORE - Mujir Hayyan Mohammad Taufiq may be anxious about sitting the Primary School Leaving Examination this year, but his parents are even more stressed - it is their first experience with the PSLE as both were educated in madrasahs (religious schools). "As much as we reassure ourselves that it is just like any other year-end exam Hayyan will be sitting, the pressure and stresses do exist," says his mother, Ms Hurul-A'in Mohd Yusoff, 36, principal of a childcare centre. His father Mohammad Taufiq Mohamed Ismail, 40, manages a mosque. They also have a six-year-old daughter studying in a madrasah. "However, we always remind ourselves that this is not our examination, it is Hayyan's," says Ms Hurul-A'in, stressing that her 11 1/2-year-old son's mental health is more important than his grades. Her focus is not misplaced in a year that has seen educational systems across the world shattered by the pandemic, leaving families disoriented and dispirited. Compared with many ... » Learn More about Coronavirus: PSLE survival guide for parents and kids during the pandemic

When schools across Singapore put their students on full home-based learning (HBL) on April 8 as part of the circuit breaker measures, Ms Adele Leong remembers the wide-eyed look of hope in her daughter Carolyn's eyes. "Are they going to be postponing the PSLE or cancelling it? How are we going to sit the exams now schools are closed?" she recalls her 11-year-old asking. Ms Leong, 44, is one of many parents grappling with the unprecedented academic changes the coronavirus pandemic has brought. The Ministry of Education (MOE) cancelled all mid-year examinations, but is still proceeding with national ones such as the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), as well as the N, O and A levels, as it says these are "major milestones" and it does not want to disadvantage graduating students. "Technically, it's not my first time doing the PSLE, but since the circumstances are so different, I might as well say it's my first time because it's hard to expect what's to come," says Ms ... » Learn More about Fretting over big exams in a time of Covid-19