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Pre-Nursery in Singapore

I went down to a kindergarden today to do some recce for my child's education.

I found that the facilities were not bad and has vastly improved since my childhood days. There were music rooms, computer rooms and even playgrounds.

However, I realised that the waiting list was very long as there were only a few vacancies.

The cost is also around $700++ for 10 weeks. That would easily add up to $3000 in a single year just for attending a 3 hr per day pre nursery.

I am not sure what to make out of all this. Is it too expensive?

Wouldn't there be economies of scale if the government did some central planning and provide education for pre-nursery students onwards? This would make the education system much fairer.

I compared a few kindergardens and I must say that the quality of the teachers and facilities vary greatly. This means that different kids are exposed to very different environments from a very young age. Surely this will have a great impact on them and their future formal education which starts at Primary 1?
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9 comments:

  1. dreamJanuary 29, 2010 at 10:05 PM

    it is cheap, go for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Createwealth8888January 29, 2010 at 11:52 PM

    My 3 kids all went to PAP kindergarden.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Createwealth8888January 29, 2010 at 11:55 PM

    My nephews and nieces also all went to PAP kindergarden.

    ReplyDelete
  4. financialfreedomJanuary 30, 2010 at 11:18 PM

    Yep. Hopefully can get a place. Very limited places available.

    Uncle8888,
    PAP my wife don't like.
    Anyway, PAP cost how much?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Createwealth8888January 31, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    PAP is definitely cheaper than private one.

    There is no evidence of starting out in PAP nursery and kindergarden made my kids, nephews and nieces lose out in their education.

    These kids also went to their own neighbourhood primary schools.

    Two of the nephews are successful in their careers. Three of the these kids are scholars.

    ReplyDelete
  6. financialfreedomJanuary 31, 2010 at 2:28 PM

    Thanks uncle8888.

    I guess most parents are worried that during this formative years, pre-nursery will play an important part in their child's development. Each parent would want what's best for their child based on the affordability.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Createwealth8888January 31, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    Some of PAP branch also have pre-nursery. Check it out. Save the difference and invest for your kid in a separate account.

    ReplyDelete
  8. TrillionSeptember 27, 2010 at 7:52 AM

    yeah dun bother with expensive play schools ...supplement at home if you feel its necessary ... money saved at pre school can be better deployted for pri or sec tuition classes ....which you are quite sure to incur.
    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  9. financialfreedomSeptember 27, 2010 at 10:45 PM

    Hi guys,

    Do read on Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and you will know why I think an expensive school is good.

    Success in life sometimes is dependent on accumulative advantages that one gets over his lifetime. Talent alone sometimes will get you know where. What you need is ACCUMULATED advantage over the course of many years.

    ReplyDelete