Singapore - Public schools

Public school education in Singapore is of a high standard with modern facilities and well- trained teachers. The education is mainly in English but there is an emphasis on children also learning their ‘mother tongue’ which may be Chinese, Malay or Tamil. The system is exam based and children are streamed into different ability levels at around age 10. There is an exam at the end of primary school to determine secondary school places. This is a very competitive exam as students aspire to get into the “best” high schools. Secondary schooling follows a system similar to that in Britain with ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level exams.

The education style in Singapore has until recently been based on rote learning with little room for creativity or individual student needs.

Singapore children are all educated in the government run public schools and only foreign children may attend private schools. Foreign children however may enroll at government schools. To find out more about the government school system go to www.moe.edu.sg .

For enquires on admission to government schools contact:

• Customer Service Centre
  Ground Floor, Podium Block
  Ministry of Education
  1 North Buona Vista Drive
  Singapore
  138675
  Tel: + 65 6872 2220
  Fax: + 65 6776 8402
  email [email protected]
  website: www.moe.edu.sg/esp/foreign