Need Advise: My daughter did'nt get a slot on the local primary school

[IamforeverIvy]

Hi,

Need an advice, anybody got the same experience with me. Just recently we received a letter from MOE saying that my daughter was not given any slot on any of the local primary school here in Singapore. The letter say we must try private schools or International Schools as other option. However, International Schools enrollment will only start from Sep-oct next year! Also, we cant afford the high fees of Intl schools. There are no available private schools for primary that I know so far. So now, we totally dont know what to do! Just thinking that my daughter will waste almost a year of not going to a primay school makes us so sad.

Anybody got the same experience? What are the options? Help please!!!

[sundaymorningstaple]

home schooling is always an option. Check on some of the mommy forums around. There was another on here only a couple of weeks ago as well. Not sure how she got on though as I've not hear back from her.

[IamforeverIvy]

thank you for your reply. i will try to search about home school.

[PNGMK]

Sheesh. What a mess. OP don't forget she might not get in next year either.

[nutnut]

Unfortunately, as a foreigner, they don't have to provide schooling for your kids, which is a bummer! As stated above, if you didn't factor in the cost of International Schooling for your kids, then teaching them at home is probably your only safe bet. Another option is to move to JB and get one of the International Schools there and cheaper housing. Malaysia is very nice, don't listen to the locals about it being like the Bronx


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[Clarice1]

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of expat parents whose kids were denied a place in P1 this year. Others were given places many kilometres away. No school bus, and school starts at 7 a.m. For those contemplating a move to Singapore, think very carefully if your company will not cover International School fees. The situation is very bad and getting worse all the time, re local schools. If your kid is denied a place, there is no appeal. No explanations either. Currently, your chance of getting into a school close to where you live, if you live in places expats congregate, is probably less than 30%. And don't count on any sibling preference if you manage to get one kid in.

[Wd40]

I am a part of that FB group. Also in my area in Tampines in my friends circle, 4 kids on dp have been denied admission. All of them applied to Tampines north primary, all of them Indians and all of them denied. But then another indian friend lives little further away in loyang condo applied in a pasir ris school, but got admission in a new school just launched in Punggol. So go figure!

It has been terrible this year. At least last year I know few of them from Tampines got admission in AMK.

[Clarice1]

Yes, it is very bad and getting worse. Some people have left Singapore because of the schooling problem. Others have decided not to come. The expat websites seem slow to catch up with all this.

[bro75]

A child of an acquaintance did not get a P1 spot too just this month. Before, I did not know anybody who got rejected although I have heard some second hand information. Now, it is coming too close to home. My daughter's turn to join this lottery will be next year's P1 admission exercise. Our options if our daughter is rejected would be international / private school (which we can afford but will stretch our budget, i.e. no more savings), tuition/enrichment/P2 preparation type schools (problem with this is many of them could not apply for student passes due to lack of accreditation) or go back to own country.

[Barnsley]

Yes, it is very bad and getting worse. Some people have left Singapore because of the schooling problem. Others have decided not to come. The expat websites seem slow to catch up with all this.

Thats because a lot of folk coming here are single or childless , therefore they have no interest in schooling issues.

According to the local news sites the Govt is recruiting a lot less teachers than usual as well.....

Not sure how the Govt wants folk to integrate if their kids cant get into school.

Or maybe they dont want any integration at all?

[gunrock]

That's a interesting point as many companies (mine included, it seems) don't want to pay "expat" packages and more are coming on foreign worker deals with little extra benefits (and not wholly sufficient wage packets), integration would be the way to go - however I could see that SCs would be annoyed that regardless of the money paid by foreign workers for local school places, they might feel that it was another area in which they are being squeezed by foreign workers/expats.

[Clarice1]

Yes, expat packages are drying up. Singaporeans know that their birth rate is low and declining, so would oppose the building of new schools to be used by foreigners. Class sizes are also being reduced. As far as many expats are concerned, they believe that Singapore is a first world country, and assume that their children will find a place in a local school. Many are now getting a rude shock. The Singapore government gives out no information about why some get places and others do not, and there is no appeal. It is also getting harder to get PR, which is the only way to ensure that your kid gets a place.

[Barnsley]

Yes, expat packages are drying up. Singaporeans know that their birth rate is low and declining, so would oppose the building of new schools to be used by foreigners. Class sizes are also being reduced. As far as many expats are concerned, they believe that Singapore is a first world country, and assume that their children will find a place in a local school. Many are now getting a rude shock. The Singapore government gives out no information about why some get places and others do not, and there is no appeal. It is also getting harder to get PR, which is the only way to ensure that your kid gets a place.

I am pretty sure being a PR doesnt gaurantee you a place in the school you want.

A Singapore Citizen isnt even gauranteed a place in the school of choice either.

[bro75]

I think Clarice meant a place in the local school system.

[ecureilx]

According to the local news sites the Govt is recruiting a lot less teachers than usual as well.....

Not sure what that means, unless it meant recruiting foreign teachers.

Quite a few Singaporeans I know have done a mid life career switch into teaching, and a few off springs too have taken up the attractive offers from MOE.

The Singapore government gives out no information about why some get places and others do not, and there is no appeal.

Yeah, the government used treat locals as second class, harping on meritocracy... and foreign students secured seats in choice schools while local kids were left to pick the leftovers. Or the local kid's parents had to put in lot of volunteer hours vs foreign kids who were just parachuted in ...

Now it's just a reversal of their pro meritocracy policies (indirectly - ehucg was seen as pro foreigner policies), and now it's about prioritising the SCs ..

Even for Uni seats a lot of scholarships were awarded to foreign students, over dedicated and committed locals, locals who were not poor but lost by a small margin.

And a lot of foreign students promptly left once their obligation was complete or just broke their bond without giving a hoot ... that was a lot of money down the drain.

It's payback time but, alas, the wrong folks are paying back.