A Guide to Choosing Primary Schools in Singapore for New Immigrant Families
In 2019, my wife and I moved to Singapore with our eldest son, who was just under two years old at the time. In this vibrant land, we welcomed two more lovely daughters. Like many families, one of the key reasons we chose Singapore was to provide our children with a high-quality education.
To help our children find the most suitable primary school, I spent a significant amount of time researching Singapore’s education system. Here, I share my experiences in the hope of offering some guidance to other new immigrant families.
Clarify Your Residency Status and Understand Admission Priorities
Singapore’s primary school admission follows the Primary One (P1) Registration system, where families with different residency statuses have varying levels of priority:
Citizens: Enjoy the highest priority and have more school options.
Permanent Residents (PRs): Have higher priority compared to Employment Pass (EP) holders but still face intense competition.
Employment Pass (EP) Holders: Limited spots are available, and registration typically occurs in the final phase.
Plan Ahead and Identify Target Schools
When our eldest son turned four, we applied for PR and began planning for school. I focused on two main factors:
P1 Registration Balloting Chances: After reviewing past P1 registration balloting results, I found that PRs had little chance of securing a spot in the top 30% of schools. Among the remaining 70%, there were about a dozen schools offering CCA programs suitable for our child.
CCA Program Offerings: Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) are mandatory for all Singaporean students starting from Primary 2 and continue through university. CCA performance is factored into students’ overall grades and is closely tied to the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme. The DSA allows students to secure early admission to secondary schools based on excellence in specific areas. Therefore, when selecting a primary school, I also considered schools with strong CCA programs that could enhance future DSA opportunities.
After considering factors such as location and commuting convenience, we narrowed down our choices to three target schools.
MOE Kindergartens: Paving the Way for Primary School
For families with younger children, consider enrolling them in Ministry of Education (MOE) Kindergartens (MK). Children from MOE Kindergartens enjoy certain priorities when registering for government primary schools. However, this policy is only applicable to PR or Citizen families.
Wishing all new immigrant families success in finding their ideal schools and embarking on a happy and fulfilling life in Singapore!