Advertising Guidelines for Tuition and Private Education Services

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Hamid Razak, West Coast-Jurong West GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what progress the Ministry has made since February 2025 in developing and implementing sector-specific advertising guidelines for tuition and private education services; (b) whether a code of conduct has been finalised; (c) what its key provisions are; and (d) how the Ministry will monitor and enforce compliance to protect parents and students from fear-based marketing.

Response

1. MOE is reviewing the measures needed to discourage undesirable advertising practices by tuition and private education providers.
2. Currently, all advertisements in Singapore, including for tuition services, are already subject to the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice. The code requires advertisements to be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and be prepared with a sense of responsibility to the consumer and society.
3. Tuition and other private education providers should comply with this code in their advertisements. In line with the Code of Advertising Practice, the advertisements should not capitalise on anxieties to induce demand for tuition services.
4. We understand that some of these anxieties stem from the perceived stakes of academic grades. To address this and to better support the holistic development of our students, MOE has made shifts in the education landscape to reduce the over-emphasis on academic results.
5. In the coming months, MOE will be engaging parents, students and educators to see how we can continue to reduce the ‘arms-race’ in education and attendant anxieties.