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Parents queue overnight to get kids on school’s waiting list

Parents queued overnight to get their tots on the 2013 waitlist of a popular Bukit Timah pre-school. (AFP file photo)

Armed with picnic mats and umbrellas — some even with maids and babies in tow, enthusiastic parents were seen queuing
outside one of the most sought-after kindergartens in Singapore, with the hope of securing a place for their children.

The exercise was not even to guarantee them a spot for their tots in Nanyang Kindergarten’s pre-nursery programme for three-
year-olds, but only to be put on its waiting list which now has more than 100 names, according to the school’s principal
Magdalene Ang.

The queue began forming as early as 9pm on Sunday, a day before registration opened for a place in the popular Bukit Timah
pre-school in 2013, reported The Straits Times (ST).

By the time registration started on Monday at 7.30am, more than 70 eager parents were filing past the school gates to pay a
S$100 non-refundable administration fee.

Priority will be given to children who have siblings currently studying in the school or have siblings or parents as former pupils,
before remaining parents on the list are considered on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Once the children are admitted into its pre-nursery programme, entry to kindergarten is guaranteed when they turn five. Its
yearly intake for pre-nursery is about 96 pupils.

Nanyang Kindergarten, which is not affiliated to Nanyang Primary School, is well-known for being the alma mater of Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his children. Past pupils also include prominent lawyers, scientists and architects.

Its emphasis on the teaching of the Chinese language is another plus point that seems appealing to many parents today –- the
74-year-old kindergarten conducts its pre-nursery and nursery lessons purely in Mandarin. Both English and Mandarin are used
later in K1 and K2.

That is a big draw for parents such as 41-year-old retail firm director, Mr McCallum, who was first in the queue.

Having camped overnight in front of the school on Sunday, Mr McCallum told ST that he and his Chinese-Singaporean wife
want to give their one-year-old son the best education in Mandarin as “the ability to read and write in Chinese will be a great
asset in the global economy”.

http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/01/11/overnight-queue-just-to-get-on-waiting-list-of/ 12/1/2011
Fit to Post – Yahoo! Singapore's blog » Blog Archive Parents queue overnight to get k... Page 2 of 3

Parents do not seem bothered by the spike in school fees following the opening of Nanyang’s S$5.5 million new extension in
2009 — while nursery and kindergarten fees used to be S$780 for a 10-week term and S$840 for pre-nursery, they have
doubled to between S$1,669.20 and S$1,776.20 in mid-2009.

Ms Ang said that new facilities such as computers and air-conditioned classrooms allow the school to incorporate special
activities like computer learning, and speech and drama into the normal curriculum.

Indeed, financial executive Jason Teng, 46, who started queuing at 5am, believes that Nanyang Kindergarten has a more
rigorous curriculum than other private pre-schools. That will prevent his children from “a culture shock upon entering primary
school”, he said.

Although his six-year-old elder son is already in Nanyang Kindergarten, which puts his one-year-old second son in the priority
queue, the father is not taking any chances.

“Call us kiasu (afraid to lose out), but I don’t want to lose out. This concerns my child’s future.”

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Tags : kindergarten, Nanyang Kindergarten, nursery, pre-school education, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
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Anan 12 hours ago

“There are two types of people – those who come into a room and say, “Well, here I am!” and those who come in and say, “Ah, there you are". “People are just about as
happy as they make up their minds to be, and that is committing to an important needs.”

This is our typical Singaporean's attitude : “When you believe you can-you can!” It's marvelous!! They are committed to their children's welfare and that is important : A
PLACE IN SCHOOL!!

Like Reply

entebbe 10 hours ago

Kiasuism at its best! If the parents think that spending K1 and K2 in this kindergarten will change their children's lives, they better think again!

Like Reply

buck 8 hours ago

PM Already Said China Education Standards Gettin Higher and Higher. China Chicks Who Rampaged Geyland Streets May Soon Own A Few Degrees. Singaporeans
Only React Normally In This Way.

Like Reply

chong 7 hours ago

so kiasu yet the o level n psle exams top scholars still go to china or malaysia pr.

Like Reply

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Fit to Post – Yahoo! Singapore's blog » Blog Archive Parents queue overnight to get k... Page 3 of 3

HomegrownTalent 7 hours ago

Really kam lan event. Just because the PM studied there b4?

Like Reply

Soo Sin 6 hours ago

Some of our elite people need always to believe that they have more class, more advantages, more money, more special and more everything else.
Could these same people compete on more kindness, more heart, more compassion, more helpfulness, more joy as the most important dimensions of education?

Like Reply

SeanMomo 4 hours ago

Singaporean Parents focused so much on their kids' future academic learnings but neglected alot on training them to be independent young adults in near future, not
forgetting Confusius teachings in Fillial Piety, respect for elders & to be humble yet sensible. Dependency rates on parents for kids rose dramatically over the last decade.
The act of selfishness of grown up kids being ungrateful to their parents resulted in overwhelming response of Old Aged home accomodations. Is this the future of
Singapore ?
Feel free to respond here.......................Sean

Lely and 1 more liked this Like Reply

zorro007 2 hours ago

This what we parents get if we don't get good administrators to run our education system. There were no such things happening in the olden days right?. Then they were
paid less also. Wise up. Thanks.

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