A 42-year-old woman was sentenced on Nov 13, 2025, to one week in jail for lying about her residential address in order to enrol her daughter in a primary school under the priority admission (distance-based) scheme. Her identity, along with the school’s, is protected under a gag order due to her daughter’s involvement.
During the 2023 Primary 1 registration, the woman falsely used the address of an HDB flat she owned and rented out to six tenants. Later, when the school queried her address change request (to her partner’s residence), she panicked and withdrew the request to avoid violating the 30-month stay requirement for priority admissions.
When the school attempted to verify her residence in 2024, she instructed tenants to keep the windows shut and lie that she and her daughter were living there. After repeated failed checks, the school informed her that her daughter would be transferred out and subsequently filed a police report.
District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz ruled that a jail term was necessary due to the woman’s deliberate, calculated and selfish actions. The prosecution had asked for a $13,000 fine, but the court opted for imprisonment.
Under Singapore law, providing false information to public servants or when reporting a change of address carries penalties of up to two years’ jail, fines, or both.
The case highlights rising instances of parents falsifying addresses amid intense competition in the P1 registration exercise.
