Singapore Expats

Has anyone had success in finding a local school (not an International School) for their children in Singapore? Any advice/information appreciated. In theory this should be possible, as all schools take Foreign Students. However I have made contact with 4 schools and there were no vacancies for Jan 2007 when we should arrive. Children are 7 & 9 years old.

It is possible to enrol but only at schools that are not in the top tier. The top tier schools are full because they are in high demand with the locals. You need to look at schools that are not in this tier and they should have spots available. By looking at the ministry of education website you can get a feel for what school should have vacancy's by this years primary one enrolment list. At the moment they are up to the second part of 2C enrolments. I'll be enrolling on the 29th of August phase 3 for my primary 1 daughter as that is the only day expats can enrol if you are not a PR. All the top tier schools have now been removed from the list as they are full. Good luck with your search...... Also consider this year as a popular year for children to enrol as they are all born in the year of the Dragon. As your kids are a little older there may be spots available at schools that are full now for primary one but may not be full for your two kids at their year. Hope this helps.

We did this exercise early this year to put my son in Primary 1 (2006). We moved in around January and first made a shortlist of schools based on feedback from MoE and some friends. Then we sent out emailers and most of them responded in the negative.

I then approached them personally and requested for an interview with the principal. Some of the schools were of course, full, but those who had vacancies, did register my son. We finally got through after around 2 weeks of searches, and I have no regrets at all.

So the idea is - rather than depending on emails or phone calls, just go into the school of your choice and request an appointment with the principal, and speak to them personally. Most of them oblige.