Kid/s of Singaporean and foreigner parent

[mixed]

Just wondered if there is any singaporean married to foreigner using this message board.

I have been wondering abt the educational options of our kids, when they have dual citizenship.

Is it compulsory to go thru' the local primary & secondary education system?

OR can we opt for international schools curriculum?

I came across an article in the newspaper quite some time ago that generally local kids have to go thru' the local schools, unless they have been living overseas for a long time.

Any feedback or experience to share wld be most appreciated.

Cheers.

[Dar]

A child is able to go to an International School here in Singapore as long as one of the parents has a passport from another country.  

[capthook]

Yes, I am too a sing married to a foreigner. I have come to understand that if the child holds dual citizenship,his or her application to an international school would have to be approved by the Ministry of Education and the chances of approval would of course be higher if the child has been away for some time.

[mixed]

Hi CaptHook,

Yes, that sort of confirmed my concern/s.
We will still have to SEEK approval from the Ministry of Education!

Which means, all Singaporean kids have to go thru' the local education system, unless and otherwise given PERMISSION!!!

There has been few articles abt local schools over the last few days.
Really perplexed abt whether my child should be in local schools.

I mean despite the stress, the system is quite efficient.  I personally found that I did well when I studied overseas at Uni level.

What are your thots?

Will you put your child thru' the local schools?

Share with me.

Thanks.

[Arantxa]

I'm also married to a Singaporean and our child has a belgian nationality, does he still need aproval from ministry to go to an international school? Thanks for your input on this.

[capthook]

Well, a lot depends on your plans for your child.Will the child be in Sing for good or are you going somewhere in  a couple of years?
I've tutored several students from the American school many years ago in my junior college days and that gave me some insight to their curriculum.So you see I really don't know what the other international schools are like. But generally, I would say the Sing system despite being less versatile is  compatent.
Incidentally, my children do not have dual citizenship and I am writing to you offshore.
My plans are to sent both of them (yes, I have 2) to international schools earlier on so they could have a lot of fun. As for secondary education, I  would definitely sent them to a local school. My elder sis who married an Australian did the same with her kids.

[mixed]

Hi CaptHook,

Nice to hear your views again.

Did your sister's kid/s have difficulties adjusting to the local school after 6 or 7 (?) years in international schools (primary level?)?

I know that from 3 yrs to 6 yrs old, the Ministry of Education doesn't have specific regulations abt kids and the type of preschools they attend, so you even attend preschool in Tanglin Trust School or Australian INternational School, etc........but from Primary 1 onwards, there is a very regulated, FORMAL way of entering the local primary school.

There are so many different phases of registration that if you are not a pupil of the school of choice, or not a member of a church or clan, no elder child in the school, don't live near enough to the school, then your chances of getting into a good school seems very, very, low.

And as Eurasian kids, it's tough to be in a "neighbourhood" type of school where most kids don't speak english at home or their view of things are very limited to just Singapore. (Having said this, I don't mean to say all neighbourhood schools are no good.)

I suppose you had given birth overseas thus, kids not given citizenship automatically.  I delibrately came back to S'pore to deliver my kids so they get citizenship and can decide later which citizenship to retain (given that Singapore does not allow dual citizenship after 21 yrs old).

But this bring abt a different set of "issues".  If the child is Singaporean, he or she will have to be admitted to local school as we have discussed earlier.  Am I right?

Well, then if we do not have immediate plans to relocate elsewhere, say husband is Australian but he hasn't spent much time there himself, and not keen to go back now....then what are my options in terms of education for my kids, primarily Primary and Secondary level?

As another person wrote in this message board, one parent of the child will have to hold a foreign passport if we are applying for international school.

Personally, I'm quite happy for my child to go thru' a good local school thru' GCE 'O' Levels and go overseas for high school and university.

The IB wld be much better, but at this point, very very few local school offer this.  And these schools are, of course, the better private schools such as Raffles Girls and Raffles Institution, which has also combined with Raffles Junior Colleage.

Guess this topic is well understood only by people like yourself and your sis.

[capthook]

Dear mixed,
Yes, my niece and nephew did have a little difficulty adapting at first but no big problem there.However, it was partly also more of a cultural shock thing at first as they have never really stayed in Sing before.Incidentally, they never went to an international school here but was schooled in a good private Assie elementary prior coming to sing.(sorry for the slip there). The down side was that before they attained their Sing citizwnship, their parents had to pay more in tuition.
I sense that you are rather keen on the int program.Why not try applying and see what the MOE has to say.You have nothing to lose except for maybe the application fees.
Another thing.You might have to talk to the Principals of the local shools of your choice and if they have an elementary department,try to reserve a seat in one of the classes so enrolment would be given priority later.(Diff schools have diif policies.Boy, do I sound like a 'Tai Tai')You see, a cousin of mine is working offshore somewhere else in Asia and her kid attends American shool there, but she's reserved a place for her daughter in one local school from the primary level.Yeah, yeah I know how distasteful this sounds but I am just explaining how it is done by some.
That aside, I would strongly recommend the local secondary education.

[capthook]

I meant Australian elementary.Spelling mistake,sorry.

[mixed]

Capthook,

Good to know that you r a supporter of Singapore's educational system, too....despite it being wellknown for churning out "boring", "uncreative" people.

I agree with what you say re: secondary education.

Thus, it wld be much better to go thru' a local primary and secondary school, I think.

Just worried, that because of the enrolment phases, he is given a space in  one of those "neighbourhood" schools with hooligans.

Your sister's kids have "survived" the system...and it must have been a big adjustment for them.  Mind if I ask, which local secondary school did they go to?

My husband  went to Scotch College in Perth.  Which elementary school did they attend in Australia?

A friend of his had already booked a place for his daughter in a good private school...his daughter was last than 1 yr old when they paid the "registration" fee!  We didn't do that tho'.

Normally, parents wld have the kids go thru' primary school here and then go overseas for good from teenage years onwards.

So, does your sis intend to have her kids go to high school and university here?

My cousin and her family had recently relocated to Shanghai (husband was posted there).  Her daughters, one in primary school and the other in Kindergarden, reserved their place in the schools by paying school fees despite them being absent.  That said, they have been in these schools before going away.  now they are in an international school, altho' there is a Singapore school in Shanghai.

They returned for the "summer" holiday recently, and the girls are attending their schools here...not because my cousin was Kiasu, but the girls wanted to see their friends.

Can you reserve a place for your kid in the primary school, even if they have not attended Primary 1 in that school yet?

Will hear from you again...and I think it will be one of our last few replies on this topic unless we could be in touch via email as our conversation or discussion is becoming more personal...haven't heard from other parents.

Cheers.

[cariad]

I am British married to a Singaporean - child has British passport but dual citizenship - does that mean she will have to go through the local system? I had originally intended that she would anyway - I worked for MOE for many years - but my husband is now more keen on her going to international school - not really an issue yet she is not quite one - but interested to know the policy now. Also have not heard of booking a place in Primary one - have heard of "donating" and thus gaining a place but not of booking beforehand? Interested to learn of all these ways and means!!

[CAPTHOOK]

Wow, between the two of us,we have run the briefcase up on fire.Better stop soon.
Yeah, my neice is back in Sing for summer school (local) too.
Seriously, I don't know which school my sis's children went to in Aus as it was along time ago(more than 10 years) and not having been there myself, it did not register.One attended the CHIJ and the other St. Joseph's (sister's alumni, not sure if these schools are still around).They ultimately went back to Brisbane for high shool and U.They had a great time while here.
No, neighbourhood school is not a good idea.There are many good  as well as bad shools.Choose carefully.
Don't think we can leave emails on this board.(not allowed).wHAT A shame.It was nice chatting with you. Incidentally, I am in the process of enrolling my children in an international school this Sept, and if all goes well,ie if their application for student pass is not rejected( not being an expat posts a problem), we might be able to meet up for a chat.

[what]

CAPTHOOK, why you can not leave your email here? I have never heard such restriction anywhere yet. I don't thjink BM is that bad anyway. If you don't like to receive millions of spams a day, then just spend a minute to get one of free email addresses just like how people usually do and give your email address to the lady. Unless you are not willing to meet her....

[wld]

i am in the same situation.  i have two kids and will likely enroll them in the local school system.  i feel that the school system here gives the kids a strong academic foundation, however, the stress level in 'achieving' is a major concern.  i think it really depends on the school and how the parents handle the situation.  if/when we should move overseas, i feel confident that my kids will be well prepared and perhap excel.  also  an very important aspect is mandarin.  i don't think the mandarin programs in the int'l schools are that strong, pls correct me if i am wrong.  anyway, i still need to find the right school for my kids.  would like suggestions.  

[Jen]

To mixed:
I too am a Singaporean married to a Brit. Both my kids hold dual citizenship until 18 of course. To answer your question, no it's not compulsory for your children to go through the local system and yes, they can go to an International school as long as one of the parents holds a passport from another country.

To wld:
Personally, in our case, we intend to stay in Singapore for the next 10 years or so and we've decided to place my daughter in my old school, MGS. There are many girls there of mixed parentage and from what I've seen and heard (being in touch with the parents through the alumni and the girls through e-mentoring) they're pretty happy and well-adjusted. If anything, the school seems to emphasize more on a all-rounded education than on just scholastic grades.