Everything I Know About Getting Into A Local Government School In Singapore As A Foreigner, Plus A Couple Of Things I Probably Made Up
We got the letter last week. P was accepted into a local Singaporean primary school. It wasn’t the one near the place where he once had an oreo milkshake but it was quite near a place where he once had an ice-cream sandwich, so that worked out ok. Unfortunately it’s not near the place where we live*.
Over the past week or two I’ve spent a considerable amount of time researching the breakage of leases, the rental of cars, the cost of taxis, the lengths of school bus trips, the ins and outs of the public transport system, and, at one point, the legality of fording Singapore’s waterways using a home-made amphibious bike.
I’ve also joined a facebook group for expat parents whose kids are going to local schools and met some fellow P1 families for 2015.
Oh, and I looked into the school, too, for what that’s worth. There’s a trendy-looking cafe opposite the main gate which opens at a time BOTH CHILDREN WILL BE IN CLASS SIMULTANEOUSLY. I’m not sure how to handle that yet but I’ll think of something.
In the meantime, in order to close the 2014 chapter of the Primary School Registration Saga, let me share with you everything I’ve learned about registering for a local primary school in Singapore as an expat. Plus – what the hey? – a couple of things I’ve most likely made up.
Do you see what I did with this picture? Because it’s P going to school but kind of it’s me going to school?
1. There really is nothing you can do til phase three.
I said this at the start of the year when the registration frenzy began, and before I got caught up in it. I’m saying it again now, not because I think it’ll stop anyone getting caught up in it, but because, I don’t know, life is an exercise in futility and it’s nice to keep fit?
Bear in mind this applies for subsequent siblings as well – so there’s no guarantee both your children will be able to get in at the same school (although it is rumoured that where places are still available for phase three, siblings gain some preference).
2. The Ministry Of Education has no obligation to ensure foreign children get schooled.
The ministry will give you a place if they have one left over after taking care of citizens and permanent residents. Based on a 2014 Facebook group poll, this still includes the majority of applicants, but when they run out of places you’re on your own. Apparently (this was also on Facebook but the person who posted it swears it came directly from a representative of MOE so it must be true) over a thousand expats received rejection letters instead of school places this year.
Some of them are going to head off in a mad scramble for international schools. Many have decided to home school, or form “tuition groups” – informal mini-schools – and apply again later. Some are embarking upon a quest for the elusive Permanent Residency, and a few are just leaving Singapore. In any case, it’s not anyone’s business but the family’s – c’est la vie.
There are plenty of rumours about wait lists, transfers, and avenues for appeal, but stories are inconsistent and none of it’s backed up by anything official. The system’s more centralised this year than in the past, so a lot of what you’re hearing may be out of date. It’s my current impression that most families won’t be able to change their current placement (or lack thereof) in the short term, but chances may crop up in six or twelve months.
3. I don’t know how you can increase your chances of getting a place in a local school as an expat, but I can speculate.
MOE doesn’t reveal its methods, so you can’t game them. We know they’re not entirely random, though. The process takes into account “factors such as availability of school vacancies and ensuring a good spread of students“, which is vague enough to make you wonder which of what you write on the application form is up for grabs. Parents’ occupation? Race, nationality, and mother tongue? All good things to obsess over, especially if you have multiple qualifications, dual nationality, and speak several languages at home.
We have no such ambiguities, and might just have got lucky. There are only a couple of things I can think of which may (or may not) have put P further up the list.
- He was born in Singapore. This either helped him (he’s practically one of us!) or hindered him (so why hasn’t he got PR/Citizenship yet?)
- He’s been through a local kindergarten. Schooling isn’t compulsory for any child before P1, but you do have to write the name of the kindergarten – if any – on the application form. Could be they’ll more readily take a punt on a kid who’s not only been to kindergarten but had a chance to hone their Singlish at a local one. Or not.
- For the gifted and talented. There’s no official testing for students entering P1, and it’s a stretch to think MOE would go to the bother of officially (or in any other capacity) contacting schools for reports on individual students. If they did, I’m not sure which would win out – P’s tendency to be mildly disruptive in class, which is a sign of either hidden genius or poor discipline (depending on how charitably his teachers word his report cards), or the bounty of scientific knowledge he’s gleaned mainly from listening to They Might Be Giants. However, entry testing is standard for grades P2 and up, with academic streaming (“banding”) in schools from P3, and it’s fair to assume that gifted students at those levels would have an edge over their peers.
If you’re an expat in Singapore gearing up for local school registration, here’s my advice:
- Read the MOE website for information on foreign/international students. Prepare the correct documents, including an up-to-date immunisation certificate.
- Join the Facebook group Singapore Expats In Local Schools. It seems like a good resource for discussing options and experiences with a large number of fellow parents and some educators.
- Consider a local kindergarten program, bearing in mind this may have nothing to do with anything.
- Try to make sure your child has been born, either here or elsewhere.
- Good luck.
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*It’s also not the same one his friend got into. I’ll keep you posted on any developments in terms of rift-causing technology.
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It’s so refreshing to read your views as an expat in Singapore. I am shocked to read that expat’s child may not get into any school places in Singapore! Are the schools that full? I am equally shocked to hear siblings are not automatically placed in same school as the older sibling for foreigners. Doesn’t seem easy for expats to study in local schools. Maybe they expect all expats would go to International schools.
Now that I read this post almost one month after you post, I think you had been to orientation already. I hope you like the school and P likes the school. And I hope it’s not too far from where you stay.
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Apparently they’ve been very full the last couple of years. Someone said it’s because Singapore is becoming an education hub for the region with many families sending their kids (plus a parent, for the young ones) to Singapore for their study. I don’t know how true that is. Maybe just normal fluctuations in numbers?? I think they do expect expats to study in international schools. (Maybe the decline of the “expat package” which includes school fees has more to do with it? Could also be the changing Singaporean curriculum making schools here more popular with foreigners, or a combination of lots of these things and more.)
We went to the orientation, yes. I do like the school but P is still in need of some convincing – he cried quite a lot at orientation. I think he’s now the only boy all the teachers and also the principal knows??
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You are a fabulous writer.
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Aww…. 🙂
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Oh dear! (Though I love the amphibious bike idea!) Best of luck to P in the new school (and to you in managing the logistics. (Frankly I see this as yet another reason that you should move to the Netherlands and specifically to my neighborhood.)
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I spent a considerable amount of time looking at different designs before admitting it was probably less effort to go around and over the bridge. I mean, it’s a long way around, but still. Also it was a bit silly because the plan involved moving to a neighbourhood which is not very near the school just in order to cycle over some water, so there was that, too. In fact I may just have been distracted from my proper research at that point.
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Jeez, and I thought my school district was difficult.
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It’s so competitive here – have you read what the locals go through? In some ways I’m almost glad to have less of a choice!
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It all seems a bit overwhelming for me too! But I’m sure P will grt into it when he gets new friends and sees the kids his own age. Hope the school days won’t be too long with the distance, won’t help the adjustment. .. good luck to all of you!
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That was my concern – long days because of travel, chipping away at his ability to sit/concentrate in class. But I think we have a plan to get around that now (we’re going to use a taxi in the morning for term one and go from there as he settles in) so we’ll see how it goes. We’ve managed to arrange a meet up with some new P1 students for 2015, so he’ll get to meet a few kids ahead of time anyway.
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That sounds pretty good!
But I never realised how much puzzles children would bring to my life before they were here; drop offs, pick ups, holiday arrangements… And now listening to your school start!
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Keeps us busy, anyway 🙂
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I am so glad all of that is finally settled for you. Here in Thailand it is fairly easy to register ones expat kids in the public schools. Apparently many of them have great english programs as well. 🙂 Luckily I have a little more time to worry about it though.
Also, I love your point that your child had to be born.. haha
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Thank goodness for easy registration for you! Assuming, of course, you’re still living there at the time.
Yes, having a born child always makes registration smoother. Makes the required immunisations a bit easier, too 🙂
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There are two issues we need to face up to as expatriates. Firstly the Singapore government has had trouble with some children who have gone to expatriate schools, and while its not nice to generalize that would form an impression in their minds when considering expat children taken into local schools at any level. If we think they shouldn’t generalize then we need to take a hard look at our own attitudes about Asia as Westerners. Don’t we do the same? And they know it!. Secondly, Chinese people have a different ethic to what we do. An individual’s actions affect family and even society face so children tend to be more aware of that than our Western children do. They would want to be convinced your children would not be a disruptive force, and I don’t mean children’s naughtiness which is international, I mean general attitude. Obviously you passed muster as they would have a file on all foreign families and know attitudes. So bask in your acceptance and know that your child will receive a good education and learn respect. I happen to know social workers who have to deal with our Australian school children. we need some Singaporean discipline in this country.
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I’ve heard stories about some of these foreign kids. One reason not to have my kids associate with them. 🙂 No, but you do get some bad eggs and it does tend to spoil the whole broth (I think that’s meant to be apples and cooks but you take my point).
The individual/community emphasis is definitely different in different places, and I know one of the aims of the school system here (and everywhere else) is to engender local values. And yes – personally I don’t mind a more community-minded approach. I think some “Western” cultures are overly individualistic. (Of course balancing the one and the other is a constant question no matter where you are.)
But scary to think we might have a whole file on us, though. With this many foreign families in Singapore, how do they find the time?
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Singapore is one of the safest cities on earth to live in. It’s also a multicultural society and if I’ve read the script correctly there was a difficult situation before Mr Lee took over and sorted it out. They don’t favour allowing troublemakers to create a tyranny of the minority we have in Western countries preventing achievement of the maximum progress a country can make. I think we could learn from them. Our Western countries have sufficient information on the internet to inquire about who we are and what we believe in and there are trigger words that alert. But then credit card companies, banks, insurance, child protection and advertising agencies collect more information about us than most of us imagine. There is no privacy in this world but why should that be a problem if we are behaving? lol
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People say that, but then the definition of “behaving” keeps changing over time! The internet/big data has a frighteningly long memory… There’ve been a few moments in my life I’m glad people have forgotten.
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I’m cheerful about all my mistakes. Can’t take them back! What’s important is now and future and learn from the past. if people feel badly about my past mistakes I try and make it right if I can and move on. I’m very careful about what I put on the internet now. Don’t want to add to interested parties dossier file. lol.
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Exactly. A mistake is a normal thing and if you can right it and move on, that’s life. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with having all my mistakes noted down and officially stored, on the other hand. 🙂
You do have to be careful with what you put out there (and hey – I’m saying all this but here I am blogging so I obviously have some level of comfort with it). I guess what concerns me (other than it being perhaps harder to move on from mistakes) is the stuff I don’t know I’m putting out there. The stuff that might be collected without my realising.
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The main issue is cookies. Not the munchy ones but the cyberspace ones. Yes you can delete those that float in on innocent emails and taps on an internet site. But some of the programs you really need have cookies and you have to agree in advance to let them sit in your computer and send messages about what you like looking at. I’m talking about search engines, but there are others. I’m suspicious of free games or sites but sometimes one has to use them. Then horror of horrors, even if you wipe your hard disc clean what you have on there can be recovered by cyberheads so if your computer crashes and you want to buy a new one take the hard drive out of the old one when you junk it and destroy it with anything you can lay your hands on except for a nuclear explosion. I’m also careful with IPads or IPhones. Yes they say they’re encrypted and they are but hackers delight in whacking encrypted stuff.
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I heard an expert advise a big hammer as regards old hard drives. Nothing like good, old-fashioned violence at the end of the day.
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This is so discouraging and doesn’t surprise me at all. So many things I assumed would be better for us here have turned out to be discouraging. And the whole school thing causes me so much stress the more I think about it, and I don’t think I am properly equipped to fight. What makes it worse is that I am also not equipped (AT ALL) to home school. I can’t even imagine where I’d start with that. But yeah, I think my stress comes from my naive assumption that access to schools and education should be a smooth and easy process, because of my equally naive assumption that education is good for our kids and essential for the future of the planet? And so every time I am reminded that this whole thing feels more like a war / mystery novel / dealing with the inner workings of an insurance company, it just completely drains me and confuses the heck out of me. And what does one do if no school accepts their child? (we might be facing this in the very near future and the worry has been consuming me)
I’m so glad they accepted P! Congratulations, really!
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Do you know, it’s discouraging and it’s not. On the one hand, the process is very simple and I think the majority of applicants did get a place somewhere (though a lot still didn’t). I would say it’s still much less complicated than applying to international schools.
The trouble is the inflexibility because you’re taking leftover places.
The really good news is that the tuition groups I mentioned do seem well-organised. On the Facebook group people are already organising small “classes” of kids – one said the parents would chip in together to hire teachers, a teaching space, etc. There are education professionals involved in this who have done it before so no previous experience required! And they follow the MOE curriculum to make it easy for the kids to transition in as/if they get accepted later on. There’s a Waldorf school running along seems like the same lines. The focus seems to be on lower primary as I think it gets easier to find a place from P3 once class sizes increase?
Basically, there’s a whole market for people in this position so you don’t have to fall back on homeschooling full time on your own if you don’t feel equipped.
Maybe you should join the Facebook group and see what people are saying? It is just around the corner for you guys, isn’t it?
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Well that’s actually very good to hear. I will join the group. For us it’s more about the uncertainty of whether or not we’re staying or moving back home, and trying to get him transferred mid year. I haven’t been able to get him into a school yet, just in case, and the school here did initially tell us that we’d have to terminate him and then re-enroll him and have him end up on a long waiting list. We finally managed to resolve that last issue, leaving us with a school back home, just in case.
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Wow! That sounds complicated. Yes, the uncertainty does add another dimension. Some friends of ours managed to enrol in an international school and immediately afterwards found out they had to transfer out of Singapore. They asked what happens with their deposit and the school said yeah, it’s such a shame for you about that. That was quite a lot of money, wasn’t it?
We should catch up before you leave Singapore! We’ve been talking all this time LOL.
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I know! Let’s! Although I’m hoping we won’t be leaving any time soon (fingers crossed!). But that doesn’t mean we can’t catch up 😀
And yes, it’s a whole lot of money! They tried to get us to pay for the entire second semester now even though we might not even be here for it. And someone they always make you feel cheap when you reject the idea.
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Obviously too used to the embassy/military/millionaire market, as Curt was saying.
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“Try to make sure your child has been born” gave me a good chuckle 🙂
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It helps. Have you ever taught an unborn child? Or is that not your age group? 🙂
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Not my age group, though I could probably croon to a stomach or something 😉
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I have this mental image now of you crooning to your stomach for practice.
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I’m not that flexible 🙂
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But you could be! With practice! (Does it work like that?)
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I’ll let you know 🙂
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Don’t tell me all yoga teachers are liars!
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Ugh, I hate yoga…
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(Because of those conniving yoga teachers, right? I’ve always had my suspicions… 🙂 )
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Yeah, I tried to explain that my body just does not bend like that – they don’t listen 😉
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Congrats! Just reading that gives me a headache. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that, I had enough problems just choosing in Australia.
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At least in Australia they have rules about catchment areas! I’ve heard stories from other Australian parents and they seem stressed out enough.
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Bronwyn I think you are right that there will be an adjustment period and then things will be fine. As a parent my nerves would have been frayed by the process that’s for sure!
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I’m glad we had the first visit to the school, though – every extra visit should help, I think. I’m sure he’ll be better once he meets his same-age classmates on open day.
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Oh absolutely! Smart of you to make the visit now and each one will be easier.
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Well they told us to come in so I can’t claim it was my idea 🙂 But it did work out well.
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You would have thought of it. 🙂
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🙂
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All a bit nerve wracking and not for the faint hearted, sounds like a nightmare process, also the issue with siblings and having to do it all again with no guarantee of getting the same school….eek, not sure I could cope. At least there’s that trendy cafe though…..
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The first time around I think isn’t so bad as long as you have your backup plan and try to chill out a bit. I was talking to a mother who works full-time in the office, as does her husband – and their second child has been placed a huge distance from their first. They have a nanny/maid to look after the kids during the day but she can only be in one place at a time!
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Here’s where I am glad I don’t have to jump through those hoops, an advantage of being an elder. 🙂 Peggy, in life before Curt, did teach in International Schools, however.
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Well let’s not get started about international schools! Whole different kettle of application processes. I don’t even know where to start with those, except the application fees looked very expensive considering they were often non-refundable in case you weren’t offered a place, and none of the ones we were considering were taking new applications anyway.
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Yes… Peggy says embassy, military and wealthy. –Curt
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Sounds familiar. The days of corporate packages with “everything included” are waning (and before we even got a chance to experience it) leaving the slower-to-change government employers. Thing is in Singapore the local education system’s hard to beat at any price!
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Understood. And a great way to become absorbed in the culture and language. –Curt
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Congratulations! So happy he got in. This primary school business is stressful, I remember this time last year… I hope he will like his school. 🙂
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Here’s hoping! I expect there’ll be a settling in period. I’m glad Singapore P1 starts a bit later than the Australian primary school system, though – I think the extra couple of years have done him wonders.
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Congrats! Not to worry, he’ll get over his jitters and be one of the boys pretty soon…:)
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I think so. Especially once he sees some classmates more his own age! It was just so dramatic – at least we kept the security guard entertained!
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Hahaha! Pretty sure he’s made his first friend at the school then. Befriending the security ‘uncle’ or ‘auntie’ is always good…:)
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Noted! And yes – I can see how it would be smart 🙂
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That’ s surprising to me that the MOE would just refuse students. Are you required to school the children? Do they check?
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Only for citizens and PRs. Foreigners aren’t their concern when it comes to schooling. You can see their point in a way.
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Mmm, you’re right, there are no social, financial or other responsibilities of the gov’t to those visitors. If they aren’t liked they can just be ejected – no muss, no fuss. If they bring in economic activity, and behave, more’s the better – what they do otherwise, unless they break laws, is irrelevant. Very interesting take on visitors. Definitely thought provoking – i.e. rules and responsibility go hand in hand.
Thanks Bronwyn – neat post.
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I believe other countries do take a different view, including those on work visas in laws regarding compulsory education/etc. There’s a taxation/representation argument which I think Singapore answers by pointing out that their tax rate isn’t very high.
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Hmmm, taxation and representation have always had a somewhat loose relationship. There’s not a politician in the world who doesn’t have wet dreams about gaining revenue through taxaion of non-voters. of course, that’s exactly the issue that created the US – taxation without representation. Even today, it goes on as much as politicians can make it happen. years ago when I owned my own truck, we had to lisence in every state and province where we operated. I leased to a company partly because the paperwork was so draconian (they’ve simplified it since). Pennsylvaia (a north central American state) had an axle tax of $15 per axle, so for a 5 axle tractor-trailer oit was a $75 permit. This was about normal and covered admin and decals and such. they decided to increase the tax to $100 per axle for out of state trucks only. Obviously a non-rep tax grab. IF all contiguous 48 states had done that it would have made my yearly registration over $24,000 – not even in the ballpark of reasonable. So we all got togther and convinced our companies to go to their appropriate state gov’ts and have laws passed that would tax only Pennsylvania trucks at the same rate. This would have caused Penn to either back off or lose all their trucking companies (and the jobs of their voters) to other states. the Tax was repealed.
And so represenation for taxation is never a given – ya gotta fight for it. I’m veyr glad that P got into a school he wanted. Hopefully all will go well.
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You certainly do have to fight for it, and when you haven’t got enough sway to make a difference that’s when you really feel like an outsider.
The state by state stuff is a nightmare. We have similar problems in Australia, only fewer states. $24k! Insane! And for reference, how much was the annual average wage at that point?
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Hah, congrats! ? As long as P is happy about the school! And hopefully learns something too wink wink.
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He’s slightly scared of the school, actually. When we went down there were about sixty of the older grades playing sports and he got all funny (refusing to enter the gate, spying on them through foliage, peeping at them from behind pillars, running from pillar to pillar as if under fire, etc etc).
I guess it’s a bit overwhelming!
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Yes, it sounds daunting seeing all the big kids, though running around playing sports may have been a good way to start. Do they have an orientation day?
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They do. Orientation is next week. The kids on orientation day should be all P’s age – so much less daunting! And we’ll get to see around the school and inside the classrooms more properly. The last visit was just from the gate to the office and back.
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