Hi All,
We have moved to Singapore from Australia and have been here since the end of March. We have really enjoyed the move so far and are settling in well. We are going thorugh the enrolement process for school, and would like to share the experince so far to hopefully enlighten other new comers to the country about the process, and hopefuly get some answers.
The cost of aninternational school is clearly aimed at foreigners who are on a full expat package (company pays for schooling).
I hope I don't upset too many people here, but who in their right mind can afford to pay $26'000 per year for a primary education? And I have two kids aged 7 and 10 so that would be double. The child is not going to come out a rocket scientest just yet!
And even if I was lucky enough not to have to pay, I personally think it would be a much better cultural experience for the child to attand a local school, especially when staying for the long term, and they can benefit from learning a second language.
Shortly after we arrived in Singapore we walked in to the ministry of education to find out what we needed to do to enrole in to a school. We did this because the website has a lot of good information about the process but unfortunately doesn't talk about midyear enrolements. So it appears that there is no such thing as a midyear enrolement, and the kids must take the test for inetrnational students (S-AEIS).
We had to provide copies of passports, EP and DPs etc, and then they would contact us back in 4 - 6 weeks. So as time goes by the kids aren't learning a lot.
We employed the service of a school search assistant. This didn't turn out to be so good. They organised times and transport to get to several schools within the area, however advised that we didn't need to take anything.
Tip 1: Always carry copies of passes and previous school reults when visiting schools. You will most likely be able to apply then and there but need copies of this stuff for the application process.
My wife went along to all of these places as I have been working. She said all the schools we went to had waiting lists and we have been added to the bottom. Most of the lists were a page long, and we have gotten no information in regards to how quickly these lists go down, and the likelyhood of our kids commencing t a school this year.
This is extremely differnt from Australia where most of the schools can accomdodtae you (unless you are looking for really reputable schools), so this is a bit frustrating for us not knowing what's going on.
So I am starting put together a readiness plan, and this is where some guidance would be appreciated.
The first thing I am thinking of is looking for a tutor for two or three days a week that can start to prepare the girls for the S-AEIS test, and start to teach Mandarin.
Or I am also trying to look at some homeschool options, until we can get in to a school. I don't want the kids missing out on too much education, however am not too fussed if they start a year level lower than what their current year would be. I believe the emphasis this country places on education will lead to far more concentrated eductaion than what they would receive back in AUS, and if we were to one day end up going back they would be able to attend the equivalent year.
I guess I'm looking for any comments on peoples experience with finding a local school here,especially after coming over close to the start of the year and missing the S-AEIS for that year.
