Singapore's public schools come under the purview of the Ministry of Education. Singapore has many primary schools and secondary schools, as well as junior colleges, centralised institutes, polytechnics and universities providing tertiary education. Under the Compulsory Education Act which came into effect on 1 January 2003, all children have to start attending primary school at the age of 7. It is a criminal offence to fail to do so; however, parents may apply for an exemption from the Ministry of Education for their child to be homeschooled or to attend full-time religious institutions. Primary schools Secondary schools Junior Colleges and Millennia Institute Below is a list of schools offering a two or three-year pre-university education in Singapore, along with the special programmes offered by the schools. The year of establishment in this article reflects the year in which the pre-university programme is implemented, particularly for the Integrated Programme High Schools. All pre-university programmes in Singapore are mixed-sex in tandem with the Ministry of Education's (MOE) requirements. These schools can be divided into two groups: junior colleges and centralised institutes. Junior colleges (JC) These offer two-year courses leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Level or International Baccalaureate examinations. Millennia Institute (MI) The only centralized institute in Singapore is Millennia Institute (MI), which offers a three-year course leading to the GCE A-level examination in arts, science, and commerce. Abbreviations MOE-based programmes: AEP = Art Elective Programme MEP = Music Elective Programme RSP = Regional Studies Programme HSP = Humanities Scholarship and Programme CLEP = Language Elective Programme (Chinese) MLEP = Language Elective Programme (Malay) TLEP = Language Elective Programme (Tamil) ELEP = Language Elective Programme (English) BSP = Bicultural Studies Programme Polytechnics Institute of Technical Education (ITE) The Institute of Technical Education campuses were reorganized under the "collegiate system" into three major colleges around the island, a regrouping and renaming exercise which took effect on 1 January 2005. ITE College East was the first to open in Simei in January 2005, and the existing "ITE East Network" campuses were renamed as "ITE College Central" campuses, to be replaced by a new campus in Ang Mo Kio. "ITE West Network" campuses were renamed "ITE College West" campuses, and their new campus will be at Choa Chu Kang. ITE College Central (Regional Campus at Ang Mo Kio) ITE College West (Regional Campus at Choa Chu Kang) ITE College East (Regional Campus at Simei) University