SINGAPORE is to make education compulsory, with parents possibly facing jail terms if they fail to send their children to school, the government announced today.

In a statement, the government said it has accepted the recommendation of a committee set up in 1999 to investigate whether education should be compulsory, and the appropriate law will be enacted by the end of this year.

In its report, the Committee on Compulsory Education called for primary school education to be compulsory.

This would give Singaporeans "a common core of knowledge" to prepare them for the Information Age and to build a sense of national identity, the report said.

Under its current education policy, Singapore provides every child with a minimum 10 years of heavily subsidised education, there is a "masterplan" for information technology education and a target of one computer for every two pupils by 2002.

But there is no requirement to attend classes, and according to the latest figures available, 1677 children did not enrol for the start of the school year in 1997.

Under the new law, parents who fail to send their children to school will be charged.

"A range of penalties should be provided in the law to deal with cases of non-compliance, including fines and, in the extreme case, a jail term," the report said.