School Hours
Life at school will vary enormously from one educational establishment to the next, be it international or private school. One of the main reasons for this is due to the fact that, despite there are guidelines on the formal curriculum requirements and amount of time spent learning each subject, the government in Singapore does not stipulate operation hours for the school. For Primary 1 and 2, the guideline is for 48 periods of 30 minutes each per week and for Primary 3 to 6—49 periods of 30 minutes each per week. This works out to 5 hours a day, including recess time. For secondary schools, the curriculum time guidelines stipulate 40 periods of 40 minutes each per week. This works out to 6 hours a day, including recess time.
Schools have the autonomy to vary the hours of instruction time and this results in different starting and finishing times throughout Singapore. Some children start school very early in the morning and finish at lunchtime, while others have afternoon classes; it all depends upon the size and nature of the school.
School Uniform
Uniform is compulsory at all Singapore schools. While the Government requires a uniform, it does not mandate the precise nature of the uniform. All state schools in Singapore (that is, local primary and secondary schools and not universities) have their own unique uniforms.
School Buses
The majority of schools in Singapore, both private and public, offer a school bus service, although this comes at a fee, which will vary according to the school and the distance traveled.
