SINGAPORE – All revenue collected from parking charges which teachers have to pay from August will go into their respective schools’ operating funds, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Friday (April 20) as it spelt out where the money goes to amid some confusion among teachers.

The practice applies to all schools here including independent, government-aided, specialised independent or specialised ones, MOE said in response to TODAY’s queries.

Nevertheless, independent, specialised independent and specialised schools have the autonomy to decide how to collect the parking fees from the teachers, as these schools oversee their own financial and operational processes.

Some school leaders told TODAY that the revenue from the parking charges can be used to disburse funds for teachers’ welfare, financial aid for needy students as well as the purchasing or upgrading of school facilities — subject to the existing rules on the use of schools’ operating funds.

On March 26, MOE announced that teachers at all national schools and junior colleges will have to pay for parking at school premises from August 1, following a policy review.

Those who drive cars have to pay S$720 annually for parking in uncovered lots and S$960 for covered lots. Meanwhile, those who ride motorcycles have to pay S$123 yearly for parking in uncovered lots and S$135 for covered lots.

If a school has, say, 30 permanent staff members who drive a car, the annual parking fees collected will work out to more than S$21,000.

TODAY understands that at least two days before the announcement, all school leaders received a circular from MOE stating, among other things, that schools will retain the revenue collected from parking charges.

However, some teachers – who spoke to TODAY on the condition of anonymity – said they were in the dark about where the money will go to.

A teacher from Zhenghua Secondary School said that her principal did not inform teachers that revenue from the parking charges will be retained by the school. “The teachers also didn’t ask about this. We all assumed it will go into the Government’s coffers,” she added.

Two teachers from Rosyth Primary School also faced a similar experience, with both saying they learnt about where the money will go from colleagues in other schools. Both Zhenghua Secondary School and Rosyth Primary School did not respond to TODAY’s queries.

An MOE spokesperson reiterated that the ministry has been engaging schools on the implementation details of the school parking policy through briefings and meetings. School leaders “will also continue to engage school staff to address their queries”, the spokesperson added.

While most teachers who drive will have to fork out their own money to pay for the parking charges, teachers at Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) do not have to do so as the fees will be deducted from individual accounts that have been set up for their own professional development.

This comes after MOE met with the board members of the Singapore Chinese High School – the parent company of HCI and Hwa Chong International – on Wednesday.

Mr Robson Lee, who chairs the Singapore Chinese High School board of directors, previously told TODAY that the meeting would focus on the dilemma over how to implement the policy, given that the company owns the land in Bukit Timah where both HCI and its international school are located. Furthermore, over 94 per cent of HCI’s teachers – numbering more than 400 – are privately hired by the company and are not considered civil servants.

After the meeting, Mr Lee said that HCI’s teachers will still have to pay parking charges as their salaries are paid using MOE funds, but the school will collect the fees via deductions from the individual employee’s flexi-benefits.

The MOE spokesperson said that these flexi-benefits – covering reimbursements for medical, well-being, learning and development, among others – are part of the individual staff member’s total remuneration package, and is subject to income tax. “HCI is merely using a different collection method. There is no absorption or subsidisation of parking charges by HCI on behalf of its staff. Like their counterparts in other schools, HCI staff must pay for parking at the same rates, out of their own remuneration,” the spokesperson reiterated.