Hi, We may be moving to Singapore from Chennai on a Dependent pass in May, 2015 since my husband has already gone there on Work Permit. I want to enroll my 9 year old son in a local school, but the general opinion seems to be that it's almost impossible for DP holders to get into local schools. Is that so? Would appreciate if any experienced person can help me out with this query. International schools seem way above our budget. Thanks in Advance, Anitha
Hi Anitha, welcome to SG Enrollment in local schools is now becoming a bit tough, but you can approach MOE directly and ask for admission. They will allocate a seat in one of the local schools. But understand that it may not be in your neighborhood or may not be your preferred school (if u have a preferred school). hope this helps. All the best!
Is it that only kids having singapore PR are allowed in local schools? and how are the local schools there? Once we asked few school kids about jurong bird park in english and they all looked at me like i was speaking some alien language. Do they teach good english in local schools?
Hi Oysterzz, Local schools give preference to siblings of current students, Singaporeans, PRs, siblings / kids of former students. After allocation of seats to these groups, the remaining is allocated to DPs. The standard and syllabus of MOE is quite good and personally, I am quite satisfied with it. Your experience is quite unfortunate, but there are few things to which we can attribute the school children that you met not quite comprehending what you said: just as we find the pronounciation of English by Australians and Japanese different, Chinese / Malay children find our (Indian) English as a bit different, or they could have been exchange students from other countries who do not speak much English.... could be anything....