SINGAPORE : There's good news for parents frustrated by the long waiting lists at international schools in Singapore - a new foreign school called One World International School will be starting classes in September.
Located along Upper Changi Road East, the school is the latest offering for the expatriate community here. It is open to all nationalities and can take up to 450 students.
While classes will initially be for kids aged three to 11, principal Noel Hurley said a secondary school will be added next year.
This should be a boon for expatriate families faced with school placement problems, said Hurley, who was the primary principal at the Australian International School in Singapore for about seven years.
He said: "At the moment, many families are faced with a dilemma of having to send their children to separate schools. They may be able to get one child into one particular school, but not the other child.
"So you find that parents enroll their children in two, or sometimes three schools. Our school allows parents to make sure their children stay in one school."
The school's programmes are accredited by the University of Cambridge. Its physical facilities include tennis courts, a gymnasium and a multi-purpose auditorium - all built on the former site of the Siglap-Changi Community Centre.
Hurley said One World was set up by Mumbai-based businessman Nishant Garodia, who also plans to take the brand beyond Singapore, into the rest of the region.
Like other parts of Asia, Singapore's 40-odd international schools are struggling to cope with rising demand. So acute is the shortage that some foreign companies have held off deploying their top executives in Singapore.
Popular international schools have even started asking parents for six-digit fees to guarantee a spot for their kids.
Hurley said his school has no plans to ask for such placement-guarantee fees. - 938LIVE /ls