Primary school with good chance for expat children

[abbby]

My friend's planning to have her kids study in a local primary school. Which primary school has more chances of entry for expat children?

[bro75]

For non-PRs and non-SGCs, it is MOE that will choose the school. It is not guaranteed that MOE will choose a school that is near the parent's address.
If your friend's kids are PRs, it is best to choose a school that does not historically have balloting for SGCs. The list of these schools is long and you can google for "Primary 1 registration balloting history" to check for this info.

[abbby]

For non-PRs and non-SGCs, it is MOE that will choose the school. It is not guaranteed that MOE will choose a school that is near the parent's address.
If your friend's kids are PRs, it is best to choose a school that does not historically have balloting for SGCs. The list of these schools is long and you can google for "Primary 1 registration balloting history" to check for this info.

Thanks ! Will pass this info on to my friend.

[abbby]

I was told that Bt Timah Pri sch has good chances for expat kids.

[Lisafuller]

Yes, Bukit Timah Primary school takes in a relatively high number of international students compared to others. I’m thinking its because many expat families reside in the Bukit Timah area, so they qualify for priority admission due to proximity.

[therat]

This was from 2017.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ ... -this-year

The proportions of international and PR students in local schools have remained fairly constant in recent years, at 5 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

[therat]

this is from 2021,

https://www.moe.gov.sg/primary/p1-regis ... pr-intake/

With effect from the 2020 P1 Registration Exercise, we will introduce a cap on the intake of Permanent Resident (PR) children during the P1 Registration Exercise. This is to prevent any concentration of PR children in our primary schools, provide a more conducive environment to encourage interaction between Singapore Citizen (SC) children and PR children, and to facilitate the integration of PR children into Singapore. The cap, which will be about 25% – 30% of the school's planned P1 intake, will be applied in Phases 2C and 2C Supplementary only.

Therefore, for this year, the implementation of the PR cap will take effect in the following 10 schools:

Bukit Timah Primary School
Bukit View Primary School
Changkat Primary School
Greendale Primary School
Marymount Convent School
North Spring Primary School
Opera Estate Primary School
Pioneer Primary School
Tanjong Katong Primary School
Xingnan Primary School

[malcontent]

I really feel sorry for parents of non—SC children here who don’t get any help from their employer on school fees.

You either pay through the nose for International School, accept some bottom of the barrel local school and still pay a substantial sum to attend... or send your child back to your home country to study there.

My daughter was lucky, P1 registration occurred just one year before they changed the rules which put PR children nearly on the same standing as foreign children. My son was not so lucky and we bit the bullet and put him in international school. And in case you were wondering, yes, it is a real struggle financially.

[the observer]

I really feel sorry for parents of non—SC children here who don’t get any help from their employer on school fees.

You either pay through the nose for International School, accept some bottom of the barrel local school and still pay a substantial sum to attend... or send your child back to your home country to study there.

My daughter was lucky, P1 registration occurred just one year before they changed the rules which put PR children nearly on the same standing as foreign children. My son was not so lucky and we bit the bullet and put him in international school. And in case you were wondering, yes, it is a real struggle financially.

Political issue. Discussed and bantered before. Accept and move on.

[malcontent]

For those newly arrived on these shores, they may not be wise to the politics... it’s simply a practical, rather than political issue for them - one that may not be readily apparent or expected based on experiences elsewhere. In most parts of the world, tax residents typically have access to public schools that are paid for with their tax dollars.

Like many things in Singapore, we can’t say it’s right or wrong... but it’s certainly different.

[the observer]

For those newly arrived on these shores, they may not be wise to the politics... it’s simply a practical, rather than political issue for them - one that may not be readily apparent or expected based on experiences elsewhere. In most parts of the world, tax residents typically have access to public schools that are paid for with their tax dollars.

Like many things in Singapore, we can’t say it’s right or wrong... but it’s certainly different.

Tax rates for most of the world.
Key takeaway: tax rates are low
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CTS_ETR

2ndly demographics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demograph ... _key_rates

You could see the ratio of citizens to foreigners. Take 2005 and 2019 as an example.
The ratio of school going children should be thereabouts.
You could see why policies have changed. In the past, foreigners could easily enrol into the local schools.
If the policies didn't change, it'll be beyond breaking point.

And then to the other aspects, expats are expected to be transient.
https://www.gov.sg/article/why-do-we-n ... -singapore

Even some industries were transient, depending on EDB’s push. The 80s/90s were about hard disks and printers manufacturing. 90s/00s were semiconductors. 00s to present is now all about Finance/IT. Even some aspects of finance have died a quick death in sg., ie banking back offices. It had 10 good years at best, 2005-2015?

A small fraction makes it to be PR/Citizens. A significant proportion does not. So what about the child’s syllabus, especially for the ones that had to relocate?

And lastly competition for good schools. Bad enough without foreigners. It’s giving grief to a lot of parents.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore ... -phase-for

And if you throw in a reason that the good school has a foreign student population, your guess is as good as mine, what’s to happen.
The PAP’s vote bank is sliding as is. I don’t think they’d want to exacerbate it.

Conclusion: its political as well as dollar and cents.
There isn’t an incentive to ramp up educational infrastructure and resources, unless tax rates are raised, at the expense of votes.

[the observer]

In a nutshell, it’s been thought through.

[PNGMK]

I would add that a friend who is well connected into MOE tells me that the MOE see schools as important for political reasons and that over diluting schools with foreign kids is not in the interest of the govt.

[malcontent]

In a nutshell, it’s been thought through.

What about unintended consequences? Could this turn off would-be future citizens, reducing the pool of ideal candidates? The number of Singapore born Singaporeans is already under half of the population today and the birth rate continues to languish, so it seems like an important consideration.

[the observer]

Have a good think about it please malcontent.