New mobile app launched for schools to send updates to parents

SINGAPORE: A one-stop mobile app that was launched on Wednesday (Jan 2) now allows schools to update parents on programmes and activities, as well provides a platform for performing administrative matters. 

The digital service – Parents Gateway – was developed in partnership with the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). 

It will be progressively rolled out to all schools by the end of the year. 

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung launched the app at Huamin Primary School, one of the first schools to pilot the programme. 

As part of Singapore’s smart nation initiative, he said one of the benefits of the programme is that parents with children in different schools can use the same platform to complete administrative processes.

“For teachers too, I think this is a major improvement,” said Mr Ong. “I really hope using this Gateway, we can cut down on administrative work for our teachers.

“This hopefully frees up more time for our teachers so that they can better focus on what they are good at, which is teaching.”

Available on IoS and Android, parents can use their SingPass accounts, SMS 2FA or OneKey Token to gain access to Parents Gateway. 

They will be able to receive information and perform administrative functions such as providing consent for their children to participate in school activities. 

Additional services, such as completing travel declarations and updating contact details, will be added to the portal incrementally and be ready by the end of 2019. 

The initiative was first piloted in 10 schools in 2017, with 56 more schools joining the Early Adopters programme last year. 

These schools will work towards rolling out Parents Gateway to the entire school by the first quarter of this year. 

For parents who may not own a smartphone or have internet access in their homes, Mr Ong said MOE will always have a parallel system where paper forms are still accepted.