Singapore – Education and Schools for Expats
Relocating to a new country like Singapore must be quite exciting for anyone. Still, it’s an adventure, especially if you come here with all your family. Basically, just like residing anywhere else new, this location requires finding answers to many “how” and “what” questions. If you wonder how your kids would get the proper education, don’t worry. The education system in Singapore is one of the most highly regarded systems in the world.
In Singapore, you are free to choose among public, private and international schools. But, as a parent you should by all means try to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of these options before making a final decision on where to enroll your kids.
Public and Private Schools
Although expat kids can enroll in public and/or private schools in the city-state, the availability is, in most cases, very limited. One of the reasons is that the best rated schools often have long waiting lists and, logically, they prefer citizens. In addition, even permanent residents will be seen as foreigners, so preference is given to Singaporeans.
Local schools are, however, more affordable than international schools. If you’re expecting to live in Singapore for the longer-term, you might consider this option, but make sure you prepare yourself and your kids for the local curriculum and its nuances. The thing is, local students are very competitive and they have a significant external pressure to succeed. The best schools regularly dismiss average and under-performing scholars. Foreign kids, in most cases, end up feeling isolated while struggling to assimilate culturally, although teachers use English as the primary teaching language. Most people from western countries have trouble adapting to the system where corporal punishment is employed and legal.
International Schools
In Singapore, there’s a large expat population and, many highly ranked international schools have decided to offer their service to the foreign community here. Because of the limited availability, cultural disparity, intensive curriculum, corporal punishment and other downsides of local schools, expat parents usually send their kids to international schools.
Generally, it’s easy to find Singapore international school that will offer your kids a good education, because these institutions have an overall good reputation. Of course, there are some with higher standards and quite challenging curricula, but it’s up to you to decide what would be more appropriate for your own children. Each school tries its best to explore and emphasize the experience of being an international pupil in a new country.
International schools in Singapore follow the IB (International Baccalaureate) curriculum, even though some of them uphold the system that is used in the country of their origin. For that reason, some expat parents pick the latter, since it means that the home-country holidays would align with the school holidays. Another important factor that has a huge effect on school choice is, of course, availability. Popular international schools also have waiting lists and, at some, spaces are occupied for several years in advance. So, while you wait for a spot to open up at some prestigious international school in Singapore, it might be wise to choose one of those (good) institutions without waiting lists.
Finally, don’t forget to bring report cards and letters of recommendation from your home-country schools, because these are often necessary for the admissions process. And, also, check out this Singapore International School:
GEMS World Academy (Singapore)
Campus Address: 2 Yishun Street 42 Singapore 768039
Phone: +65 6808 7300
