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Number of Bidders for School Bus Service Contracts for SPED Schools

Published on: 03 Feb 2026

NewsParliamentary replies

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin, Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education with regard to the contract awarding process for school bus services for Special Education (SPED) schools (a) over the past two years, on average, how many bus operators participate in each bidding exercise; and (b) what are the mechanisms in place to ensure sufficient number of unique bidders.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Gho Sze Kee, Mountbatten

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has any information on the circumstances of the tender exercise for school bus services at Pathlight School that led to the 40% to 50% increase in bus fares; (b) if so, what are the circumstances; and (c) whether the number of bidders who participated in the tender exercise and the quote of the next-lowest unsuccessful bid can be shared.

Response

  1. This response addresses oral Question No. 74 and the related written question filed by Ms Gho Sze Kee for the subsequent sitting regarding the contract awarding process for school bus services for Special Education (SPED) schools.
  2. Social Service Agencies (SSAs) that operate SPED schools conduct their own competitive bidding exercises. They select operators based on factors including fare competitiveness, fleet capacity, ability to meet SPED students’ complex transportation needs and geographical coverage.
  3. MOE does not oversee individual SSA tender processes, stipulate bidding mechanisms, or track the number of bids submitted to the SSAs. However, to support the SPED schools and to enable broader market access, MOE has extended its public School Bus Advertisement website portal to SSAs/SPED schools since 2024, enabling them to invite bids from a wider pool of school bus operators in Singapore during tender exercises. SSAs/SPED schools that used the portal received several bids for their school bus contracts, and we will continue to encourage more SSAs/schools to use it.