The Ministry of Education has made steps to allow international school visits to resume

International school visits have been allowed to Cambodia this year by the ministry of education After 2 years of COVID-19.

SINGAPORE, Singapore – Now that the Covid-19 travel limitations have been lifted, schools are ready to resume student trips overseas.

After a two-year break due to the outbreak, the Ministry of Education is looking to hire a contractor to provide travel-related information and advising services.

Meanwhile, educators from a local secondary school have booked trips to Cambodia this year to have a better understanding of the nation before sending their kids there.

Other secondary schools are organising reconnaissance visits across the region, according to Cindy Chng of Golden Travel Services, reviving foreign school excursions.

After a two-year break, Ms Chng reports that demand for abroad study trips to Asean nations such as Malaysia and Vietnam is high.

In response to questions from The Straits Times, MOE said the vendor would provide health, medical, emergency, and security consultation services for both local and abroad excursions.

According to tender documents obtained by ST, the MOE will select a vendor to provide round-the-clock health-related consulting services, including routine and emergency advisories, as well as alerts and reports on health, medical, and travel for both domestic and international travel.

Before sending kids on field trips, it will undertake risk assessments, analyses, and reports.

According to the ministry, the education department has been working with a service provider like this since 2010, but owing to travel limits, it had to postpone it in 2020 and 2021.

It added, "This provision strives to ensure that our school leaders are properly informed about global events in order to make timely and informed decisions about their schools' local and international trips."

"All MOE students and personnel on local and international travel organised by their schools and/or MOE will be covered by the service."

Many students are already going overseas for sporting events, and some from polytechnics and other institutes of higher learning (IHLs) may start travelling as early as this year, according to Ms Chng, whose company organised hundreds of overseas excursions for schools each year before the outbreak.

"However, parents' anxieties about their children catching Covid-19 or other infections persist," she added.

It will respond to problems on the ground and coordinate extrications, evacuations, and medical transfers along the route with the MOE's designated insurance provider.

Users can register and log their trips using a Web interface and a mobile app.

In March, Singapore's Education Minister Chan Chun Sing declared in Parliament that the government would endeavour to restore international experiences for IHL students.

Parents in the area, like as Shue Chua, a homemaker, are concerned about the Covid-19 situation.

Mrs Chua, a 48-year-old mother of two secondary school understudies, said the decision to allow them to go on an international school trip boils down to balancing the child's safety with the trip's significance.

"I'm not a huge fan of general exposure vacations," she explained. On outings with a definite goal, such as subject-precise field trips or contests, I could be more willing to take some risks, including Covid-19 hazards."

School-based Since April 26, the restrictions on Covid-19, as well as the rest of the country, have been lifted.

At the time, group size limitations were removed, allowing sports and other large-group activities to continue, including student spectators at various national championships.