International Schools

[chixchix]

hii all, I am a local an am thinking of placing my child born in 2003 ,in a International School due to some reasons.

However, one thing I need to know is that...like we have best local schools like ACS,Raffles etc..there is a ranking of local schools also..

Is there such a thing for International Schools also in Singapore ..if so, which is the best International school here where I can consider to put my boy in ?

please provide your feedback on the International Schools here..and the curriculum.

Thanks in advance!

[sundaymorningstaple]

I believe, if you are a local, then your children will be as well. Your child either has to be a special needs child or you need a really good reason for the MOE to allow them to enroll in an International School.

The following taken from the MOE site:

Primary One Registration

Under the Compulsory Education Act, Singapore citizens born after 1 January 1996 and residing in Singapore are required to attend national primary schools regularly. Thus, a child born between 2 January 2001 and 1 January 2002 has to be registered at the 2007 Primary One Registration Exercise for admission to Primary One in January 2008.

So you might want to call MOE for some more clarification so you don't run foul of any laws here.

Here is the MOE url: http://www.moe.edu.sg/education/admissions/

[Callalily]

I am not an expert in International Schools but form what I heard UWC and Tanglin are excellent. You need to go and have a look and find the one that you think might be right for your little boy. Other schools are very good too so you must do your homework. Of course, check first as mentioned by PP that you actually can register your child in a International School. I wasn't aware of the restrictions.

Best wishes

Lily

[chixchix]

ok i will check on Tanglin..I dont mind putting my child in a local school but I am really pissed by the registration system here..so much of balloting and I have a mother tongue issue for my boy.. during my time, I took Malay, but I dont want my boy to take Malay as mother tongue cos no one speaks at home the Malay language....

one crazy thing is that the local schools registration phases have also got a Parent Volunteer programe in order for you to secure a place for your kid..

[sundaymorningstaple]

ChixChix, what is your child's father's race?

That is what determines what the child's mother tongue is. Sounds stupid and it is. I had a similar problem but went to war with the MOE many years ago and beat them with their own rules. (If your children are of mixed parentage check their birth Certs as to their race. You will find that they are not Eurasian, but that they are the same race as their father.

My eldest, a girl, when starting school, was told that she had to take Tamil as her mother tongue. After doing some research I found the following....

A. The mother tongue is determined, not by the mother at all, but, by the father's race. As their father is a Caucasian and his mother tongue is English. Therefore both of my children are considered as having English as their Mother Tongue. (Both of their NRIC's also state that they are Caucasians as well even though they have kopi susu complexions.

and

B. The MOE states that if you take your "mother tongue" at "1st language" level you had your choice of the second language.

ergo....... My children, while taking English at 1st language level it also meant that they were taking their mother tongue at 1st language level therefore they had their choice of their 2nd language. Hence both of my children are now fluent in Mandarin (the chosen 2nd language), Singlish, Standard English (American style) and understand Tamil but just don't speak the language.

So are you Malay, or is your husband Malay? If neither, then regardless of what you took as a child is it not relevant to the 2nd language of the child. Only your husband's race is all that matters.

[chixchix]

Well we are both Sikhs and Punjabi would be our language..well the closest i can get is Hindi.. but only Henry Park Primary ( one of the good schools ) and Clementi Primary are offering it as a 2nd lang..i mean this are the close schools to our living area.



I really wanted to get my boy into Henry Park...however, it is slightly more than 2km from my place..also ,the Parent Volunteer programme is also closed .I emailed to the school but they mention that due to popularity,they have lots of parents on waiting list.

I also find that the current curriculum for even Primary 1 children is so tough,...poor kids..so different than the 70's...hheeee

anyways, can anyone share with me what do kids in International Schools study in 1st standard...

[JayV]

ChixChix, what is your child's father's race?

That is what determines what the child's mother tongue is. Sounds stupid and it is. I had a similar problem but went to war with the MOE many years ago and beat them with their own rules. (If your children are of mixed parentage check their birth Certs as to their race. You will find that they are not Eurasian, but that they are the same race as their father.

I think nowadays child's race is not mentioned at all on Birth Certificate. Mother's and father's are.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I think nowadays child's race is not mentioned at all on Birth Certificate. Mother's and father's are.

Fair enough, The last one I've seen was my son's and it's 19 years old now. However, up to 5 years ago anyway, their NRIC's still show the father's race as the child's race. So even if the BC doesn't show the child's Race it still shows the Father's race which is what is used.

As a side note, NRIC's are constantly evolving, My original NRIC showed me as "Others" while my new one shows me as "Caucasian". Others was always a joke. They even break down the Malay race into smaller catagories now e.g., Malay, Boyanese, etc.

[viajera]

hi sms, would you happen to have a link to an online document saying that a child's mother tongue is determined by the father's race?

we're looking at applying for an exemption for our son from the MT exam at PSLE. the MOE website says this is possible for international students and returning singaporeans, as long as we arrange for other foreign language lessons outside the school. if MT is indeed determined by father's race, we could cite this in our application, and possibly increase our chances of getting approved.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Let me see what I can find. When I went through that exercise it was two decades ago. The internet was still in it's infancy then. I'll get back on this.

[sundaymorningstaple]

This ought to keep you busy for a while......

http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmm ... 180496.pdf

http://www.ihakka.net/hakka2003/Big5/word/01.doc (footnote 5 on page 5)

http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cg ... artspapers (pages 11-13)

https://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages ... _Intro.pdf (Pages 9~11)

http://www.ell.nie.edu.sg/innerPages/Ne ... t%2001.pdf (page 10 of 14)

http://www.qualitative-research.net/ind ... w/651/1411 (pages 9-11 3.1)

Sorry I'm not able to find a statute and I don't there there is one. The Government will always ask for the NRIC's of the parents and the fact that this is a patriarchal society you will NOT find in writing as it is technically "prejudicial" in nature due to the "Patriarchal" society. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence in the above articles to support it.

sms

[madura]

Has the primary section of SJI International started accepting Singaporeans? If yes, you could probably give that a try.

[chixchix]

Hi there...thanks i checked but SJI only for bigger kids..mine born in 2003.

[lynn13]

Not "SJI" but "SJI International". They take in 6 years old.

http://elementary.sji-international.com.sg/

[viajera]

thanks, sms! much appreciated!

and apologies, chichix, for hijacking the thread...