A disagreement between divorced parents over which primary school their child should attend ended up in the Family Justice Courts, with a judge ultimately giving the father authority to make the choice.
The child, identified only as X in court documents, is due to enter Primary 1 in 2027.
Both parents had different preferred schools. As an earlier court order did not specifically deal with Primary 1 registration, each parent applied to court for authority to register the child.
District Judge Goh Zhuo Neng ruled on 23 July that the father could decide which primary school the child would be registered in.
If the father’s preferred school had no available places, he could also choose another school where he could secure a place.
The mother filed an appeal against the decision on 5 August. The judge’s grounds of decision were published on 2 September.
Parents Live About 30 To 40 Minutes Apart
The former couple married in 2019 and have one child. Divorce proceedings began in March 2022.
They have joint custody and shared care and control of the child.
Under their existing arrangement, the mother has the child from Wednesday evening until Sunday noon, while the father takes over from Sunday noon until Wednesday noon.
This schedule became important when the court considered the school dispute.
Both parents had picked schools located less than five minutes from their respective homes. However, their homes are about 30 to 40 minutes apart.
That meant choosing a school near either parent could result in the child travelling roughly 30 minutes each way when staying with the other parent.
The mother also proposed another school that was about 20 minutes from both homes and seven to 10 minutes from the child’s current preschool.
The judge did not consider maintaining proximity to the preschool particularly persuasive because primary school starts earlier and has less flexible timings than preschool.
Father Handles Three School Mornings Each Week
Travelling time and the amount of time spent preparing the child for school ultimately tipped the decision towards the father.
Under the shared-care arrangement, choosing a school near the father would mean the child gets three school mornings each week without having to wake up as early for a longer journey.
The father would also be responsible for preparing the child for three full school days each week, compared with two for the mother.
Judge Goh said this was a clear practical advantage for the child.
The court placed particular weight on commuting in this case because most of the other considerations did not clearly favour either parent.
For example, the schools near both parents were not especially short of places. The parents also shared care of the child equally, so neither could claim to be the primary caregiver.
School Reputation Is Not Everything
The judgment also set out some factors courts may consider when parents cannot agree on Primary 1 registration.
These include a school’s reputation, whether a parent is an alumnus, distance from home, which parent takes on more caregiving responsibilities, the availability of places and the parents’ conduct.
But the judge cautioned against placing too much importance on a school’s reputation.
Doing so could turn such disputes into comparisons of perceived school rankings while pushing aside factors that may matter more to the child’s welfare, such as travelling time and daily routine.
Under Ministry of Education rules, divorced or separated parents with joint custody must agree on the school chosen for Primary 1 registration.
If they cannot reach an agreement, they may apply for a court order authorising one parent to make the decision. MOE recommends doing so at least three months before Primary 1 registration because the registration timeline is tight.
The father was also awarded S$1,000 in costs for the two court applications.
