School Reintegration Network

Singapore's School Reintegration Network (SRN) is a pathway used through the Youth Courts to support a child or young person who has been persistently or continuously absent from school in returning to a school setting. Singapore Courts describe the network as launched in August 2025 in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE). The SRN is a court-linked support and referral arrangement, not a new school, a general admissions exercise or a standalone attendance grant (Singapore Courts, Opening of the Legal Year 2026, accessed 29 August 2026; Singapore Courts, Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model, accessed 29 August 2026).

How the pathway operates

When a child or young person has not been attending school regularly, the Youth Courts may use the SRN to activate the school's student welfare officer or another suitable school staff member. That school representative can work with Family Guidance Programme officers or case workers to arrange reintegration into a school setting. Singapore Courts' family-guidance information also says the Youth Courts may make a referral through the SRN to support regular attendance before permission is granted to withdraw a Family Guidance Order application (Singapore Courts, family guidance order hearing, accessed 29 August 2026; Singapore Courts, Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model, accessed 29 August 2026).

The network is part of a wider therapeutic-justice and whole-of-community approach in the Youth Courts. The court, family, school and other relevant stakeholders can coordinate around the child's welfare and rehabilitation within the legal framework. The SRN therefore addresses the practical school-reintegration component of a court or family-support pathway; it does not itself decide every education placement, diagnose the reason for absence, or replace school welfare, social-service, health or court processes that may also be needed (Singapore Courts, Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model, accessed 29 August 2026).

Scope and legal boundaries

The public court materials describe a referral and coordination mechanism rather than a published national programme with an open application form. They do not establish a universal right to a particular school, a fixed reintegration timetable, a published number of participating schools, a completion rate, or an outcome guarantee. Whether the SRN is relevant depends on the circumstances of the child and the court or family-guidance pathway involved (Singapore Courts, family guidance order hearing, accessed 29 August 2026; Singapore Courts, Opening of the Legal Year 2026, accessed 29 August 2026).

The SRN should also be kept distinct from the Compulsory Education Act 2000, which sets a statutory attendance duty for Singapore citizen children of compulsory school age residing in Singapore in relation to national primary school. A court-linked reintegration referral can support attendance and welfare, but the existence of the SRN does not amend the Act, create a new offence, or turn every absence into a court referral (Singapore Statutes Online, Compulsory Education Act 2000, current version accessed 29 August 2026).