New international school to offer bilingual education
SINGAPORE – A new international school with an emphasis on bilingual education will be jointly set up by the Singapore Chinese High School and EtonHouse International Education Group, catering to students from kindergarten to primary school levels.
SINGAPORE — A new international school with an emphasis on bilingual education will be jointly set up by the Singapore Chinese High School and EtonHouse International Education Group, catering to students from kindergarten to primary school levels.
Offering the International Baccalaureate programme, the new Hwa Chong EtonHouse Institution plans to assign two teachers, teaching Chinese and English respectively, for every class, while certain subjects, such as mathematics, will be taught in both languages.
Traditionally, most international schools use English as the main medium of instruction, EtonHouse Group’s founder and managing director Ng Gim Choo told a press conference held at EtonHouse International Pre-school in Thomson yesterday.
“There’s a strong demand from this group of international parents who are working in Indonesia, working in Singapore, who want their children to learn not only English, but to learn Mandarin because Mandarin is very widely-spoken in this part of Asia,” said Mrs Ng.
Mr Robson Lee, Secretary of Board of Directors for the Singapore Chinese High School, noted that the school will also offer a bicultural education as they try to get international students familiarised with the local and Asian cultures.
For example, he said, students will be able to participate in local festivities, such as Mid-Autumn Festival, Deepavali and National Day celebrations.
At present, the Singapore Chinese High School runs two secondary schools: Hwa Chong Institution and Hwa Chong International School. Pre-school operator EtonHouse Group, which is headquartered here, runs more than 90 schools in 10 countries.
More details for the school are still being worked out, but enrolment is expected to start in early 2016, and the school will take in about 300 pre-school and Primary 1 students. It plans to increase its total intake to about 500 to 800 students over the next few years.
While the school will take both Singaporean and foreign students, Singaporean students will have to join other mainstream primary schools when they move on to primary school education, said Mrs Ng.
In response to TODAY’s queries, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said: “A Singaporean child who wishes to enrol into an international school would need to seek MOE’s approval.”
The ministry would prefer that Singaporean children attend MOE’s mainstream schools, which provide a common educational experience.
“This helps to build a national identity, a common spirit, and social cohesion among Singapore students during their formative years,” the spokesperson said.
The school fees at the new international school will be “comparable” to existing international primary schools in Singapore, said Mr Lee. International schools usually charge between S$15,000 and S$20,000 per year, said Mrs Ng.
EtonHouse Group currently charges parents an average of S$1,900 a month for each student in its pre-schools.
There are also plans to locate the school near the existing Hwa Chong campuses in Bukit Timah, which Mrs Ng added could allow some sharing of facilities between the schools