Local schools may be costlier if tuition bill is included
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Sep 24, 2011 - ST Forum
THE cost comparison in Sunday's article ('More expats opting for local schools'), which comes out attractively in favour of local schools, may be misleading.
While the article mentioned tuition in passing, it failed to quantify it and give an estimate of the total cost (school fees plus extra tuition) for a child to keep up and succeed in the local primary school system.
Based on my experience and our family's interactions with other families here, Singapore families who are at or above middle-income levels - comparable to those of the expatriate families highlighted in the article - could be spending $2,000 to $3,000 monthly on tuition expenses for their primary school children in the core Primary School Leaving Examination subjects English, Science, Mathematics and Mother Tongue.
The large classrooms where a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:40 is common and the unrelenting pressure of examinations in local schools force parents to resort to private tuition to ensure that their children can cope and succeed.
Parents of expatriate children who attend quality international schools at the primary school level do not resort to extra tuition in the core subjects for their children.
If a more in-depth comparison of costs is made, expatriate parents who want their child to keep up and succeed in the local primary education system could be budgeting approximately $24,000 to $36,000 annually per child - which is no different, and in some cases higher, than the cost of the international schools quoted in the article.
Obviously, there will always be naturally gifted exceptions who should not figure in the comparison.
Daniel Sadhu
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intl sch syllabus and structure diff
and who says they no need tuition?
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Smart kids, there is no need of tuition. For Local Trash of course they need.
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Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:
Smart kids, there is no need of tuition. For Local Trash of course they need.
only trash be it foreign or local.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
only trash be it foreign or local.
Of course. Also to be added is that it depends a lot on the teacher too! -
Originally posted by FireIce:
intl sch syllabus and structure diff
and who says they no need tuition?
yar...no evidence that students who attend int. schools don't need tuition, is there?
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In fact, almost all students go for tiutions.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
In fact, almost all students go for tiutions.
many sleep during tuition too
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Too many trick questions until they fail to teach the fundamentals...
foundation's weak.
