Jul 1, 2007
AsiaOne

Expat parents in Singapore are facing problems getting their children into the 38 foreign schools here, which are packed to capacity.

The booming economy has attracted many foreigners, causing the expat ranks to swell last year from 798,000 to 875,500.

The supply crunch in these schools, which operate non-Singaporean education systems, is especially bad for preschool children, who can wait for up to six months to get a place, some schools told The Sunday Times.

For example, at the Canadian International School, which has 1,600 students, the waiting list is 100 children long, while the Singapore American School has reached its maximum capacity of 3,700 students.

The Australian International School's enrolment shot up 71 per cent over the last three years to reach 1,800. The latter has opened 10 more classrooms and hired 10 more teachers in the last year to cope with the burgeoning numbers, but even so, it still has 150 children waiting to get in.

And this shortage of places may not disappear soon, given the healthy economy and the government's efforts to attract more foreign talent to reach the country's target population of 6.5 million.

But things may be a little better next year, when the Australian school completes a building extension next June that will open up 700 places. Similarly, the Canadian International School will open two new campuses within the next two years.

ISS International School, which still has about 200 vacancies at its Paterson Road and Preston Road campuses, will open another campus as well.

For the full story, read The Sunday Times today.

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