As discussed in our previous article, the process of selecting the right Primary School can be a source of frustration for parents. This is especially so for those who are enrolling their first child into Primary One.
Coupled with the anxiety of competing with other parents for limited vacancies, there is also an underlying fear of not being able to give their child the best option possible for their education. Maybe it has to do with Singapore’s rigid intolerance to failure – parents will want to lay the correct foundation for their offspring’s cognitive development at an early age in order to succeed in the future.
Selecting the best school to satisfy this desire for excellence thus is made more difficult because of the almost complete lack of official data to compare the relative performance of schools. The next best option is then to narrow down a selection of school based on proximity to their current residences. However, entering their child simply based on distance may not necessarily mean that it will be the most compatible choice with the learning abilities and interest of the child.
Schools in Singapore aren’t homogenous – some do have a more rigorous curriculum, others offer specialized courses for language, sports or the arts, and a handful do allow for continuity from primary to secondary school education via affiliation. As such, the best course of action would be to plan ahead on the school the child should enroll in based on their learning potential, and then try to live less than 1km away from where said school is located. This gives the best chance for entry.
Should you go down this route, we’ve handpicked a list of private properties you can choose from:
Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools
Certain primary schools place a strong emphasis on fostering cultural and linguistic roots with their mother tongue. Under the Special Assistance Plan (or SAP for short), these schools offer several subjects taught in the mother tongue, together with other subjects that are taught in English. The only drawback of this is that currently, SAP schools only cater to students who are studying Mandarin as their mother tongue, reducing the chances for the majority of students from other ethnic groups to enroll.
Debates on whether it is the right time to revisit the rationale for having SAP schools aside, if you do wish to have your child learn more about, and gain an appreciation of Chinese literature, here are some property options to consider near popular ones:
(Click on the school name to reveal the full list of completed condos around the area)
Ai Tong School
Hong Wen School
Nan Hua School
Secondary School Affiliation
Being an alumnus has never been more beneficial. Some primary schools are affiliated with specific secondary schools as a result of their close historical ties. Students who enter these primary schools will be able to gain preferential admission into their affiliated secondary schools. Given the highly competitive nature of entry into secondary schools as well, this is highly desirable. Entry to secondary schools is based on PSLE scores, and the minimum scores needed for entry do differ greatly between affiliated and non-affiliated pupils – sometimes, up to as much as 40 points between them.
Maha Bodhi School
Fairfield Methodist School (Primary)
Montfort Junior School
Republished with permission from: 99.co
