All Singapore Citizens born after 1 January 1996 and living in Singapore must attend a national primary school unless an exemption is granted.
Compulsory education also applies to children with moderate to severe special education needs born after 1 January 2012. Parents will be able to fulfil their compulsory education obligations by enrolling their child in a government-funded special education (SPED) school and ensuring that they complete their primary education there.
If your child is unable to attend any national primary school due to their medical condition or disability, you must apply for an exemption with supporting documents.
Parents may be guilty of an offence if their child fails to attend a national primary school regularly unless the child is exempted from compulsory education, or they are able to present a prescribed reason for their child's absence to the satisfaction of the Director-General of Education within a reasonable time.
If convicted, a parent shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.
If your child is medically unable to attend any national primary school due to their condition or disability, you must apply for an exemption from compulsory education with the Ministry of Education. You will need to:
MOE will assess your application. Exemptions are not automatically granted—they are only given where attendance is genuinely not feasible.
Mainstream primary schools are suitable for children who have the cognitive abilities and adaptive skills to access the national curriculum and mainstream learning environment. Mainstream schools offer specialised support programmes and interventions to support students with additional needs, such as dyslexia, mild autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, hearing loss, visual impairment and physical impairment. You can refer to the Ministry of Education’s website for more information: https://www.moe.gov.sg/special-educational-needs/school-support/primary-schools.
If your child requires more intensive and customised support, a special education (SPED) school setting may better support his or her needs. In such cases, you should consult your child’s teachers and medical or allied professionals to identify a more appropriate educational setting, and to facilitate the transfer of your child from a mainstream to SPED school.
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) provide examination access arrangements for students with special educational needs. These may include:
To apply, you typically need to provide supporting documentation from a qualified professional (such as a psychologist or doctor) confirming the diagnosis and how it affects the student's examination performance.
If you suspect your child or ward may be experiencing bullying at school, you should:
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Your child or ward should have the same employment rights and protections as any employee, such as entitlement to timely salary payments, paid medical leave, and standard protections under the Employment Act 1968.
The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices require employers to hire and treat employees fairly based on merit, and discrimination based on disability is inconsistent with these guidelines. If your family member faces workplace discrimination because of their disability, you can report this to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practice (TAFEP).
The new Workplace Fairness Act 2025 is slated to take effect in end-2027. It aims to strengthen fair and harmonious workplaces in Singapore and protect employees from discrimination based on protected characteristics such as disability and mental health conditions.
As a general rule, no. Doctors owe a duty of confidentiality to their patients and must not disclose medical information without the patient's consent except in very limited circumstances.
If you discover that a healthcare provider has disclosed your mental health information (or that of the person you care for) to an employer or a third party without consent, you may:
There are narrow exceptions to the duty of confidentiality, including:
Outside of these narrow exceptions, disclosing a patient's mental health information to others without consent can constitute a serious breach of professional standards.
An employer may ask general questions about your fitness for work. However, the extent to which you are required to disclose a mental health condition depends on the context. In Singapore, there is currently no specific anti-discrimination legislation for persons with disabilities in employment. However:
Not necessarily. A contract entered into by a person who did not have the mental capacity to understand it at the time of signing is voidable—meaning it can be set aside—but it is not automatically void. To set it aside, the person who lacked capacity must generally show that the other contracting party knew, or ought to have known, about the lack of capacity. The key test is whether the person understood the transaction.
You would generally need to:
You should seek legal advice promptly, particularly if the contract involves significant financial commitments such as a loan, mortgage, or guarantee.
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