kindergarten cost

[pradzmom]

Hi,


Ill be moving to singapore next month from India. I have a 3.4 yr old boy.I know nothing about the educational system there. Should I put him in a regular school or a pre school? I also hope to start working soon. Will the same kindergarten provide me with daycare services?what will be the cost per month? How easy or difficult is it to get admission in schools/ preschools?

[DesertWind]

pradzmom:

Hi,


Ill be moving to singapore next month from India. I have a 3.4 yr old boy.I know nothing about the educational system there. Should I put him in a regular school or a pre school? I also hope to start working soon. Will the same kindergarten provide me with daycare services?what will be the cost per month? How easy or difficult is it to get admission in schools/ preschools?

Hi pradzmom,

Welcome to Singapore!

Just to give you some basic terminology for pre-schools in SG. Schooling for 6 years-old and below are called \"pre-schools\". Formal & compulsory schooling only starts at Primary 1 when child turns 7 years old.

For for you 3.4 yo boy, he would be attending a pre-school.

Secondly, there are 2 major categories of pre-schools in Singapore:

1. Child-Care Centres - operates pre-school teaching ciricullum as well as child-care services like providing meals, bathing, nap time etc. Opening hours are long ie. from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays and 7 am to 1 pm on Saturdays, to cater to working mothers.

2. Kindergartens - operates classes lasting 3 hours (some centres 4 hours) with 2 or even 3 sessions per day. The hours are usually 8 - 11 am, 11 - 2 pm, 2 - 5 pm. There are no after-school cares for such kindergartens and you need to have alternative arrangements at home to care for your boy should you decide to put him into a kindergartens.

Cost per month ranges widely between a few hundred dollars to thousand plus depending on which pre-schools you are looking at. For Kindergartens, usually the cost averages about SGD300 per month (there are more expensive ones at very popular kindies). For child-care centres, assuming you need their services for the whole-day, would cost more, about SGD500 per month for the lower end to SGD1,500 for the higher end.

As for vacancies, again depending on which pre-schools you are looking at. Generally I would say it is not difficult to get into a good pre-school unless you are looking at those really popular ones in very popular area.

I would suggest when you come to SG, start by looking at the pre-schools around your residential address. Find out what sort of pre-schools are available around your area and then come to KSP forum to check them out!

All the best!
:celebrate:

[pradzmom]

Hi desertwind,


thanks for your response. I just wanted to have an idea before I came over and you have been very helpful..:)

[justcoping]

Just to clarify, the lower end kindergartens cost less than $100 per month.

[pradzmom]

Thanks Just coping…Im not particular about brands…is the difference in the quality between the expensive and inexpensive kindergartens vast or minimal?