Local vs International Schools -

[bobo]

From the US, I planning to stay in Singapore for about 3-5 years.
What are the pluses and minuses of international vs local schools aside from cost?

[Traditionp]

It's not likely your kids will get into local schools, they are for locals.

[TryhS]

 If money is an issue, look into homeschooling from online distance learning to putting together your own curriculum and everything I between there is a lot of choice.  Live in a big condo and you will have the social side covered.
International schools are mostly IB Schools ( google it) and local is aimed toward passing tests, and rote learnIng. Singapore has the best test scores in the world.

[local scholler]

It's not likely your kids will get into local schools, they are for locals.

It applies to kids with problems socialising with local kids. Thanks for the claim.

[Not Home]

Kids who are home schooled will not make close friendships with other kids in their condo. The other kids will naturally gravitate towards the kids they go to school with or with whom they have the shared experience of school with. The home schooled kids will always remain as outsiders. Plus they will not learn how to deal with the rough and tumble of school and thus life. You won't be doing your kids any favours by home schooling them. Similarly, putting them in local schools is not going to be a happy experience for them. If you cannot afford to pay for school here, don't bring your family.

[Even]

It's not likely your kids will get into local schools, they are for locals.

There are plenty of expat kids in local schools, just not the so-called 'best' schools. Expat kids are certainly given the lowest priority but any school that has space once all the balloting is complete can then offer them to non-PR.

[I'm with even]

I'm an expat (Aus) who has had children in the local system for years & would like to ask others to stop passing around the hearsay that all local schools do is rote learning. Total tosh! Even my friends who've known me for years still repeat to me "but all they do is rote learn". Truly it's time to start a new statement! We do the same things at neighbourhood schools that you do do at International schools - reading with the kids, participating in celebration days etc.

[I agree]

I'm an expat (Aus) who has had children in the local system for years & would like to ask others to stop passing around the hearsay that all local schools do is rote learning. Total tosh! Even my friends who've known me for years still repeat to me "but all they do is rote learn". Truly it's time to start a new statement! We do the same things at neighbourhood schools that you do do at International schools - reading with the kids, participating in celebration days etc.

It's true - local schools are OK.

The main problem you'll have is that you won't get into the top ones because it is Singaporeans first (and let's face it, most of us would prefer that our home countries were as possessive over their citizens too)

Class sizes are bigger, they go to school at odd hours at some of them (the one near me has kids out doing PE when it's still dark     ) and you often see kids in uniform at weekends (not sure if everyone has to go at weekends or if it's for special classes).

If your kids are older there should be no worries about them developing that horrible accent   


You do still have to pay though - just not as much as international school.

[examine your motives]

If an expat sends his child to a local school and the latter struggles with the work, gets absolutely crushed and demoralised, will the parent:

A: Tell the child that maybe he should spend a bit more time on studies, or

B: Pull the child out of the school, and if the mates asks how the child is doing or why he left the local school say "all these local schools do is to rote learn blah blah.

The fact is, students in a local school background usually finds it easier to move into an international schoo curriculum, but not vice versa

[USA USA USA]

From the US, I planning to stay in Singapore for about 3-5 years.
What are the pluses and minuses of international vs local schools aside from cost?

I wouldn't consider any school other than The American School if you intend returning to the US.   There will be a huge gap in their social studies and history education - which does run through the whole US curriculum!

[scorn]

"You won't be doing your kids any favours by home schooling them. "

This is silly. The general decline in Western education standards means home schooling is a valuable option. Home-schoolers enter Ivy League at a higher rate than publicly schooled kids, and most of these top-tier schools have specially tailored admission standards for them.

The Internet is a game changer as well, with sites like the Khan Academy offering better access to knowledge than can be provided by most teachers. While we don't solely home school ourselves, we do have the Singapore math method and other lesson plans at home to fill the gaps left by regular schools.

[Roti John]

It's become a bit of an urban myth to say schools here teach nothing but rote-learning. That's way too sweeping a statement.

But there's a kernel of truth to it. Even the schools themselves agree this is the case. Here, the rationale is that better you fathom the framework through and through so you can apply it to the problem at hand. This works very well for all known problems.

Of course, outliers are a bit more of an issue, because if the framework doesn't apply, then what's a kid (or, dare I say, by extension, a grownup) to do?

Local schools don't excel in stimulating individuality or creative problem-solving skills. Western schools tend to nurture this in kids.

You're kidding yourself if you think your children will learn the same degree of mental independence and ability to think out of the box at a local school as in a more western-oriented schooling system.

Two different schooling systems, two approaches. That's a given.

[Tryhs]

Point taken about the rote comment.  I'm sure there is more to local school than rote they have lots of great activities. But when someone overseas asks the difference they need a realistic answer. 
Local schools have 40 kids in a class, the teacher can not give individual attention even if they are the best teacher in the world. There are exams every year for every age, in international school there are no exams until high school.
Numerous international studies list Singapore as a rote teaching nation. It's on Wikipedia for example, it says Singapore is taking steps to change that.
While many feel rote is a negative thing many people think it is a great way of education.

[NMS1]

Just to clarify a few things.

The majority of primary schools now have 30 per class and often have a teacher's assistant as well as a teacher in the classroom.

Most school have introduced or are introducing what they call "holistic assessment" in the first 2 years of primary school and I believe they all have to do this within the next few years. This is basically continual assessment but not all through pen & paper tests. My daughter has done show & tell, poetry recitation, maths activities with shapes and money etc. Yes, it's still very results focussed but it is changing slightly.

[Home schooling]

It's only logical that home schooling will fail if the people responsible for the schooling are lacking in knowledge and training - and bear in mind, I'm looking in the mirror as much as I'm pointing fingers.

As for local schools, I'd rather my kid spend his time in school getting the 3Rs, because I've got creativity in spades. He gets problem solving/arts/imaginative play all the time at home. However, if he went to a school that was all touchy feely, I would be at a loss to get him up to snuff in the foundation subjects.