Local Vs International School
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d1s2:
Really depends on your A level subjects and grades as well as what you want to major in for your degree. A levels is only useful for science / engineering, but not for most other courses. It's quite pointless doing A levels if you want to major in, for example, liberal arts, accountancy or business. What you learn, whether Science or Humanities, wouldn't be of much relevance. Starting immediately on a US degree will definitely give you better exposure to a much broader range of subjects (ranging from law, accounting, psychology and philosophy) and allow you to better decide on the major after the 2nd year.
From what i've heard from students who've gone to American Universities, they can get 1 yr exemptions with A levels in most cases. A friend's daughter who went to Berkeley after her A levels is attempting to complete her undergraduate degree in 2.5yrs with course exemptions from her A levels.DadOfGirl:
A-Level (JC) tution fee would be @ 4000/5000 Singapore Dollars per year. It will work out to be cost of 10000 SGd for two years.
Would you let go such opportunity to form foundation at reasonable cost? GEC-Alevel in sinagpore is defintely rated very well & if you score straight , you can save one semester in most Uni in US.
As for costs, the fees for a community college is usually no more than US$10k per year. I know of many parents who pay $1k or more per month for tuition for their JC kids. If you manage to establish residence after your first 2 years, you may qualify for the lower fees for resident in the next 2 years if you go to a public university in the same state. The savings can be very substantial. -
kiasuest2:
I dont think so as there are no extra marks given for being a non-Chinese taking it as MT. Since the majority of students taking Chinese are Chinese, Just a few non-Chinese would not make much of a difference to the average but if the score is less than the average, it would make a big difference to the overall T-score as the MT T-score could actually be \"negative\"
my understanding is that by having non-Chinese pupils taking Chinese as MT should actually raise your child's T-score for Chinese as your child will be seen to do better as there will be a lowering of the average mark used in the T-score formula no?david1947:
There are non-Chinese primary school students whose parents opt for Chinese as MT. While this will serve them well in future, it can lead to lower T-scores. For instance my child obtained A's in all subjects except MT where she got a B...so her T-score is lower than expected and she cant get into a good school of her choice.
While not wanting to start a debate on the merits of the scoring system, I am now faced with a difficult choice - whether to send her to a B-grade school under the same system or switch her to the IB program at one of the 3 local international schools - SJI, ACS or Hwa Chong.
Does anyone have recommendations on the merits of these three? -
ycpang:
Many say children learn better through play. It is perhaps true that in the early years of international secondary school, the pressure is less. From what I understand, during these years the emphasis is on improving expression , out-of-the-box thinking and and inter-personal skills rather than just academics.. But at IB level, i,e the last 2 years, the program is extremely rigorous - and certainly comparable to JC & the pressure is very much there - its just a different sort ...the kind that you may encounter in real life.I think most of them who go to international schools are happy, and one of the reasons is there is no pressure from school. This can be a good as well as bad thing, depending on what you want.
I remember when my DS was 6 yo, I sent him for computer enrichment. Every weekend he looked forward to go there and I was so pleased. Until one day I fouud out that for the past 6 months, the teacher had been letting them to play computer games on their own throughout the lesson instead of real teaching. I got so pissed and pulled my DS out of the center immediately.
Was my DS happy there? Yes of course he was. So you see my point?
I also remember what our MM LKY said, if there is no pressure, you will never improve. -
pupilview:
International school is expensive.Academically may not be on par for Maths.International schools encourages students to think out of the box.It has a good culture and nationality mix.Proficiency in languages are better.
This topic has been discussed extensively on various expat's forums. From most expats' point of view, Singapore eductaion system is of rote learning while International schools provide all rounded education. Personally I don't agree. My view is basically you got rip-off of by paying $25K to $30K school fee per year in most International schools. Discipline is somehow lacking and you also need to be aware that their academic level is much lower than the mainstream schools. If I were you, I will put her in the mainstream school. Just my 2 cents.ycpang:
[quote=\"david1947\"]There are non-Chinese primary school students whose parents opt for Chinese as MT. While this will serve them well in future, it can lead to lower T-scores. For instance my child obtained A's in all subjects except MT where she got a B...so her T-score is lower than expected and she cant get into a good school of her choice.
While not wanting to start a debate on the merits of the scoring system, I am now faced with a difficult choice - whether to send her to a B-grade school under the same system or switch her to the IB program at one of the 3 local international schools - SJI, ACS or Hwa Chong.
Does anyone have recommendations on the merits of these three?
Local schools syllabus is good but parents stress up the child more.It does not allow the playful and late-bloomers to come-up.It makes students adher to follow the rules from step1.... step n.Teachers fine-tune the students to do things in a single track way.So if MOE puts a difficult question in P6 or other mile-stone levels, parents shoot letters to newspapers complaining.[/quote]
Actually I have a fair idea of the differences between the two systems and the relative merits and demerits. Certainly the local system produces word class students - but these generally come from the elite schools though there are isolated exceptions. But then the elite schools only take in the best and the brightest from the PSLE crop. Excellence in, excellence out - not too difficult an equation. Which leaves the 2nd and 3rd liner schools which I believe enjoy less assistance in every way - whether it be finance, facilities or teaching staff. And with a larger cohort, the teacher/student ratio does not permit individual attention...nor does the system allow late bloomers. However, this is not to say that the latter band of schools cannot produce brilliance - they do ...I'm just talking about the \"norm\".
I think MOE is aware of the relative merits of the international schooling system and I understand that the designated \"future\" schools are adopting many of the teaching methods practised. under the international system. I think recognition of the merits may have influenced the MOE to accord licenses for commencement of the \"Local\" inernational schools only to 3 of leading insitutions in Singapore - HCI, ACS and SJI
My original question was to ask if anyone had any personal knowledge of these three \"local\" international schools in terms of the quality of overall quality of education provided in each ( and also in terms of discipline) -
[quote="david1947]Actually I have a fair idea of the differences between the two systems and the relative merits and demerits. Certainly the local system produces word class students - but these generally come from the elite schools though there are isolated exceptions. But then the elite schools only take in the best and the brightest from the PSLE crop. Excellence in, excellence out - not too difficult an equation. Which leaves the 2nd and 3rd liner schools which I believe enjoy less assistance in every way - whether it be finance, facilities or teaching staff. And with a larger cohort, the teacher/student ratio does not permit individual attention…nor does the system allow late bloomers. However, this is not to say that the latter band of schools cannot produce brilliance - they do …I’m just talking about the "norm".
I think MOE is aware of the relative merits of the international schooling system and I understand that the designated "future" schools are adopting many of the teaching methods practised. under the international system. I think recognition of the merits may have influenced the MOE to accord licenses for commencement of the "Local" inernational schools only to 3 of leading insitutions in Singapore - HCI, ACS and SJI
My original question was to ask if anyone had any personal knowledge of these three "local" international schools in terms of the quality of overall quality of education provided in each ( and also in terms of discipline)[/quote]
I know SJI Intl well. Its founding principal was Andrew Bennett, who was head of UWC (SEA) and was instrumental in making UWC (SEA) one of the best IB centres in the world. Andrew Bennett is now semi-retired but continues with SJI Intl as advisor. He had put in place a good team of teachers, mainly expatriates. The students in SJI Intl High School come from two main groups - expat students from SJI Intl elementary school and local students who joined the school after PSLE. The school adopts an active learning approach where class participation is a key aspect of learning. They grow to be very strong communicators, and very confident.
Last year, two of their IB graduates (with average PSLE scores) were awarded PSC scholarships.
The school places lots of emphasis on students doing things themselves, especially through outside classroom activities.
There is a long waiting list for admission and all places for 2011 have been taken up. -
patpattan:
Last year, two of their IB graduates (with average PSLE scores) were awarded PSC scholarships.
The two IB graduates awarded PSC Scholarships were from mainstream schools (SJI and CHIJ St Theresa's Convent) from sec 1 to 4, before they joined SJI (International) in year 5 and 6. -
ycpang:
Yes, but neither of them have outstanding PSLE and O level scores. They did very well for their IB diploma at SJI International. PSC was apparently impressed by their self-confidence, communication skills and breadth of knowledge.patpattan:
Last year, two of their IB graduates (with average PSLE scores) were awarded PSC scholarships.
The two IB graduates awarded PSC Scholarships were from mainstream schools (SJI and CHIJ St Theresa's Convent) from sec 1 to 4, before they joined SJI (International) in year 5 and 6. -
A fair number of ordinary students came in as PSC Scholars in addition to these two at the expense of candiates from top schools. Many top candiates were eliminated in the final interviews.
Last year, the chairman of PSC had issued an open letter why many top candiates were not chosen. -
patpattan:
I know SJI Intl well. Its founding principal was Andrew Bennett, who was head of UWC (SEA) and was instrumental in making UWC (SEA) one of the best IB centres in the world. Andrew Bennett is now semi-retired but continues with SJI Intl as advisor. He had put in place a good team of teachers, mainly expatriates. The students in SJI Intl High School come from two main groups - expat students from SJI Intl elementary school and local students who joined the school after PSLE. The school adopts an active learning approach where class participation is a key aspect of learning. They grow to be very strong communicators, and very confident.[quote=\"david1947]Actually I have a fair idea of the differences between the two systems and the relative merits and demerits. Certainly the local system produces word class students - but these generally come from the elite schools though there are isolated exceptions. But then the elite schools only take in the best and the brightest from the PSLE crop. Excellence in, excellence out - not too difficult an equation. Which leaves the 2nd and 3rd liner schools which I believe enjoy less assistance in every way - whether it be finance, facilities or teaching staff. And with a larger cohort, the teacher/student ratio does not permit individual attention...nor does the system allow late bloomers. However, this is not to say that the latter band of schools cannot produce brilliance - they do ...I'm just talking about the \"norm\".
I think MOE is aware of the relative merits of the international schooling system and I understand that the designated \"future\" schools are adopting many of the teaching methods practised. under the international system. I think recognition of the merits may have influenced the MOE to accord licenses for commencement of the \"Local\" inernational schools only to 3 of leading insitutions in Singapore - HCI, ACS and SJI
My original question was to ask if anyone had any personal knowledge of these three \"local\" international schools in terms of the quality of overall quality of education provided in each ( and also in terms of discipline)
Last year, two of their IB graduates (with average PSLE scores) were awarded PSC scholarships.
The school places lots of emphasis on students doing things themselves, especially through outside classroom activities.
There is a long waiting list for admission and all places for 2011 have been taken up.[/quote][/quote]
Thanks Pat. Your inputs are much appreciated. -
When you try to compare an international school to a local school in the country, the former is definitely different to the latter. The former offers international education system and they promote international curriculum that is recognized in international level. Meanwhile, the latter are usually using curriculums recognized in the country.
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