Looking at schools next week - what did you wish you'd asked

[fivegomad]

Hi all,

We are over in Sing next week on a visit to check out the schools. We have a number to see as have 3 children of different ages with different needs to find a school for. I remember seeing a post whilst I was looking a good few weeks ago giving some great suggestions for questions to ask. Does anyone know which thread this was?

If not, just wondered if anyone who has already done the school search have any good questions you wish you'd asked...

Any ideas, as always, very welcome.

Thanks.

[PNGMK]

"Who owns this school and what percentage of the revenue are you required to return to them vs percentage of revenue that you are prepared to spend on textbooks, materials and other consumables".

You probably won't get an answer in some cases but that's all you need to know.

[fivegomad]

Can you elaborate?

[Hannieroo]

How long is your lease? Apparently SG is not renewing leases on schools in more central areas hoping to move everyone out eventually. Traffic and housing needs is my guess. You don't want to settle somewhere then realise you have a huge bus journey in two years.

[zzm9980]

Can you elaborate?

Many International Schools are for-profit.

[PNGMK]

Can you elaborate?

Many International Schools are for-profit.

Here's some real numbers;

One school has to return 8% to it's central board in the USA.

The other (with a convicted criminal on the board) has to return 20% min.

Guess which ones spends more on the kiddies?

My former boss, a HK drug detective, swears hand on heart, that for profit schools are (some, not all) the biggest money laundering scam in Asia.

[Dert42]

Get an estimate on the bus ride length and cost, pickup/drop off times.
Our school has 2 semesters.
The bus service quoted us price per "session". I figured session was just another word for semester.

It is not. The bus company made up 2 sessions per semester to trick people. So the bus costs 2x what I expected.

[Girl_Next_Door]

Can you elaborate?

Many International Schools are for-profit.

Here's some real numbers;

One school has to return 8% to it's central board in the USA.

The other (with a convicted criminal on the board) has to return 20% min.

Guess which ones spends more on the kiddies?

My former boss, a HK drug detective, swears hand on heart, that for profit schools are (some, not all) the biggest money laundering scam in Asia.

This is why "Not for profit" organizations/schools are considered high risk.

[PNGMK]

Many International Schools are for-profit.

Here's some real numbers;

One school has to return 8% to it's central board in the USA.

The other (with a convicted criminal on the board) has to return 20% min.

Guess which ones spends more on the kiddies?

My former boss, a HK drug detective, swears hand on heart, that for profit schools are (some, not all) the biggest money laundering scam in Asia.

This is why "Not for profit" organizations/schools are considered high risk.

High risk of what? I've seen far more "for profit" schools shut down than "not for profit". Personally I like to know where my money is going... and I don't want it lining the pockets of some of the owners of these "international schools" in Singapore.

[Hannieroo]

My children's school is for profit. I'm not sure on the whole it matters. Class size, retention of students and staff and facilities do. Sure, not for profit might plough in but so does a for profit, they have to or they'll lose customers and go bust. Don't look at who owns it, look at who runs it. If it's admin not educators then you have a problem.

[movingtospore]

Not in Singapore Hannie. Captive audience and not enough school spaces. And no governance whatsoever from Singapore. With the non profit schools there is oversight by an elected board.

In the 5 years I've been here I've lost track of the number of so called ib schools that have come and gone. Buyer beware!

[PNGMK]

Not in Singapore Hannie. Captive audience and not enough school spaces. And no governance whatsoever from Singapore. With the non profit schools there is oversight by an elected board.

In the 5 years I've been here I've lost track of the number of so called ib schools that have come and gone. Buyer beware!

To be fair to Hanni, Nexus does seem a little better than others and has some form of oversight from a board...

[Hannieroo]

I think a school that's been going for years or has a big company behind it with decent exam results then that is all you need. I think spaces are only an issue with certain schools, there is always somewhere decent that has space for a child. And the Edutrust does monitor. Internationally, iGCSE and IB are monitored.

I'm just grateful my child isn't in a school owned by an oil company any more. Huge fees that the company pays to itself and your child's education is worth about 17 cents.

[beppi]

Looking at schools next week - what did you wish you'd asked

How long is the waitlist?
Is there a way to circumvent the waitlist? - Many schools offer that for a (high) fee.

[movingtospore]

The IB program has accredited a number of less-then stellar schools in Singapore, and some that are outright terrible. So ask hard questions and don't take the IB moniker as indication of quality.