JUDGE IMPOSES JAIL INSTEAD OF FINE
On Thursday, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said education holds an exalted place in Singapore’s society, and that few decisions stir parental instinct or stir as much hope, anxiety and resolve as those relating to a child’s schooling.
She said the school admissions framework implemented by the Ministry of Education (MOE) seeks to ensure that the process remains transparent and orderly.
Offences that seek to subvert it strike at the values that lie at the heart of society and confer an “undeserved advantage” on the offender, said the judge.
She found that it would be “unduly narrow” to regard the benefit conferred on the woman’s daughter as the full measure of the harm caused.
She also noted that the harm had “taken root” when the woman first falsely declared her child’s address during the 2023 exercise, securing her daughter’s admission under the 1km priority scheme.
The judge said that while no other child was shown to be directly displaced because of the girl’s enrolment, this does not detract from the fact that an illicit benefit was obtained.
Each place secured through a false representation carries the potential to deprive another eligible child of admission to the school, noted the judge.
“It is this risk that carries potential harm to the integrity and fairness of the system,” she said.
The actual harm was further compounded by the fact that the school was “compelled to expend not insignificant time and resources” to ascertain the child’s actual residence on multiple occasions.
“The need for such verification measures underscores the administrative burden and inconvenience caused by (the offender’s) sustained deception,” said the judge.
