More land, buildings for foreign schools

August 20, 2008
More land, buildings for foreign schools
4 state buildings, 3 land parcels tagged; government inviting FSS
proposals
By LEE U-WEN

THE government wants more foreign schools in Singapore to provide
places for children of the growing number of expatriates moving here
to work.

Four more state buildings and three land parcels have been identified
for use as Foreign System Schools (FSS).

The buildings are the former Upper Serangoon Secondary School in
Upper Serangoon Road, Nan Chiau High School in Kim Yam Road, Fuchun
Primary School in Woodlands Centre Road and Jurong Town Primary
School in Hu Ching Road.

Except for the Upper Serangoon Road property, the buildings will be
leased for an initial three years, with the option to renew for two
further three-year terms. The land parcels - at Yishun Avenue 1,
Hougang Avenue 1 and Bukit Batok Road - have lease periods of 30
years.

These seven sites will add to the 19 international schools that
already use state property, such as the Canadian International
School, United World College of South East Asia, and the Avondale
Grammar School.

The seven additional sites were chosen based on locality,
convenience, availability, space and ease of adaptability.

In a joint statement yesterday, the Economic Development Board and
the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said that they are inviting
proposals via a request-for-interest exercise.

Proposals will be assessed on such factors as quality, ability to
meet market demand, investment commitments and, crucially, a
commitment to start classes by next year.

'Singapore's strong economic growth over the years has attracted an
influx of foreign talent,' the two agencies said.

'In recognition of increasing demand for FSS in Singapore, there is
keen interest among existing FSS and new players to expand and set up
new operations.'

The woes of many expatriates trying to secure places for children in
international schools here have been reported many times recently.
Most FSS are full and have long waiting lists.

In 2006, there were 875,500 expatriates in Singapore, up sharply from
798,000 the year before.

Interested FSS are invited to submit proposals for specific sites and
can do so for more than one site.

SLA's director of land operations (private) Teo Cher Hian, said: 'We
recognise that FSS are important infrastructure to attract global
talent to live and work in Singapore. Adapting former vacant schools
for use as FSS not only optimises land resources but also provides
immediate solutions to cater to growing demand, since they are
purpose-built with playing fields and other facilities.'

EDB said that the exercise is not one-off and that more schools will
be attracted to the island in line with market demand.

For more information on the available sites, visit www.sedb.com.