While I wait for MOE to let me know where I will be placed for my partner schools, I have talked on the phone with several international schools in Singapore with the hope of finding a placement for our two kids. To say that least, it is discouraging. There are at least two issues that I am running into now: 1) waitlists at schools that do not have space for two kids in grades 1 and 3 and 2) the extremely high fees for the application, the registration and the tuition – yes, those are THREE different things.

We talked with an admissions rep at St. Joseph’s Institution International School and Singapore American School and while we LOVE the schools, we can’t apply because of the wait lists that both schools have. We would be throwing away the application fees since there is no guarantee of a place for them. We are also running into issues with enrolling them for half a year. GEMS Academy is going to get back to us to let us know whether they will consider a short-term placement. I have a call scheduled with the Canadian International School tonight – where it is tomorrow morning there. Always the optimist, I am hoping that they are both amenable to a short-term placement and that they have space for our girls in January.

The international schools can get away with requiring exorbitant fees of their families. I assume that this is partly due to the restrictions that MOE places on foreigners attending school there. Even the application fees are prohibitively expensive, ranging from ~S$600 to ~S$2500 per child. This is a non-refundable, non-waive-able fee with no guarantee that a child will be offered a place. If a child is offered a spot, there is another one-time fee which ranges from S$1000 – S$12,000. Yes, that is correct – that’s twelve thousand Singapore dollars…for each child. Then, tuition is on top of these fees. Tuition ranges from S$28,000 – S$42,000 per child per year. In talking with the schools, I have inquired whether it would be possible to have my husband work there in exchange for a reduction in the fees. That is not panning out too well, much to our dismay.

With all of the above-mentioned fees, I am hoping that DOS is still willing to cover most/all of them for us. I hate that I have to ask and that I am put in this position. If we were not taking school-aged kids, I would not be asking about them about this; I wouldn’t want the extra funds. It still feels like I am asking for it for myself, but we will never see any of that money. It will go to the schools that my kids enroll in. I can’t help but feeling like a grubber, regardless.

My skype session with IIE is later this month and I am very eager to learn more about the school(s) that I will be assigned to. I am anxious to secure an apartment to live in, as I am told by a Singaporean that those are booked about six months in advance.

I hope that by my next blog entry I will know where my kids are going to school and where we will be living – both very important aspects of our time in Singapore.