Fee facts

FOR non-citizens, the cost of education in Singapore's primary and secondary schools will treble by 2012. But it is still a fraction of what they would pay elsewhere.

• Local and international schools

  Local schools, from primary to junior college levels, will charge between $600 and $6,000 annually. Private schools like Tanglin Trust School and EtonHouse International charge up to $20,000 a year.

   

• Independent schools

  At these non-government schools, local students pay between $3,000 and $4,000 a year; fees for non-citizens are about twice as much. Some, like Hwa Chong Institution, St Joseph's Institution and Raffles Institution, said they may increase fees for non-citizens in the next few years.

   

• The cost of public education - a comparison (see table)

  Foreigners in the region pay more to attend public schools; in China, a non-citizen might pay up to 70 times more than locals.

  In Australia and North America, the difference is stark, too.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.