Demand at international school spikes with steady influx of foreigners

Teo Xuanwei
xuanwei@mediacorp.com.sg

FACED with the happy problem of overwhelming demand from parents, the
United World College of South East Asia has decided to open a new campus
in Tampines, which will be ready in three years’ time.

“The economy is booming and a lot of people are moving into Singapore. And
the quality of education for their children is an area where parents are
not ready to compromise,” said the college head, Mr Julian Whiteley,
yesterday.

For the last admission exercise in June, the college received more than
1,800 applications for 550 places.

The school also has a waiting list, of between one and three years,
depending on the level. The new 6-ha campus at Tampines Street 73 will be
about half the size of the college’s 11-ha campus at Dover Road but will
have similar facilities.

“It’s basically one college, two campuses. We will offer the same type of
education and curriculum,” Mr Whiteley said.

Like its Dover facility, the teacher-to-student ratio for the new campus -
operational in August 2010 – will be maintained at 11.6 to 1, which means
it will have about 220 teachers eventually.

Mr Mike Price, deputy college head, said the new campus will also continue
with the tradition of not just emphasising academic achievements but also
maintaining a “values-driven education, where students can explore,
inquire and challenge”.

The new campus will also cater to students from Kindergarten 1 to Grade
12 – the equivalent of nursery to junior college education for students
between four and 18 years old – and boarding facilities for about 200
students will also be available.

The school expects to hit its full capacity of 2,500 students five to
seven years after the Tampines campus starts operating, pushing total
numbers to about 5,400.

While the Tampines campus is being built, a transitional primary school
for about 400 students from Kindergarten 1 to Grade 4 will open in Ang Mo
Kio next September.

According to Mr Whiteley, the college chose Tampines for three reasons:
The absence of a major international school in the area,
relatively-cheaper property prices, and the town’s convenient transport
network.

With more foreigners settling down in Singapore – more than 77,000 came
here last year – the college is not the only international school with a
spike in demand.

Two months ago, DPS International School announced it would have a new
campus to accommodate about 2,000 students in the East Coast from next
April. Chairman C P Kabra said that the school has received about 500
enquiries from parents.