At the official launch of the local campus of Dulwich College in February 2013, Mr Leo Yip, Chairman of the EDB, said, “One of the most important factors when global companies consider which city to set up their businesses in is the availability of good quality education for the children of their expatriates. Therefore, in order to attract investment from MNCs to Singapore, we must be equipped with world-class international schools. Even as the global economy as a whole remains uncertain, many global companies continue to invest in and seek growth opportunities in Asia. Singapore is a choice investment destination. The setting up of Dulwich College (Singapore) will aid in attracting more companies to develop their businesses in Singapore.”

A Strategy for Economic Development

Therefore, the setting up of international schools in Singapore is a strategy for economic development.

Singapore has 34 international schools with about 40,000 students, of which the majority are non-locals. Since 2004 MOE has approved the proposals of Hwa Chong Institution, Anglo-Chinese School and St Joseph’s Institution — three local mainstream schools — to set up privately-funded international schools. All three schools received strong support from the EDB, including help to rent premises for their school compound from the government, loans, and approval as an Institution of a Public Character so that donations made to the schools can be exempt from tax.

To allow mainstream schools to set up privately-funded international schools was a suggestion made by former Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam after the completion of the Review of Junior College and Upper Secondary Education, which he headed. Mr Tharman is now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance.

Providing More Choice

Mr Tharman said that the setting up of private secondary schools and junior colleges was necessary to provide more choice for the children of expatriates who are stationed in Singapore. These schools, however, must both provide an environment that nurtures the Singaporean spirit and adhere to MOE’s education policies like the bilingual policy and National Education. At least 50 per cent of their student populations will be Singaporeans or Permanent Residents. At the moment, these three local international schools provide a secondary and post-secondary curriculum leading up to the International Baccalaureate. Of the three only St Joseph’s Institution has opened a Primary section which it did in 2008, but St Joseph’s Institution International Elementary School does not fall under MOE’s list of private schools.

Allowing local students to study in international schools does not mean that they will necessarily receive a better education. Instead, the opportunity is given to these students to be in an environment filled with different cultures, to make friends from different parts of the world and to develop understanding and respect for people different from themselves. In an increasingly globalised world, these traits will allow them to become global citizens with the ability to work effectively with people from different cultures.

A Proliferation of International Schools in Asia

Dr Margaret Alvarez, who was the Associate Director of Accreditation with the Council of International Schools from 2003 to 2012, spoke of the two major changes she had observed in her nine years with the organisation. The first was that there had been a proliferation of international schools in Asia, the number of which had grown by 200 to 300 per cent in her estimation. The other trend was that more Asian parents were sending their children to international schools, and these schools were no longer catering solely to the children of expatriates. In Bangkok for example, there are currently more than 120 international schools and a significant proportion of their students come from Thailand itself.

Parents Willing to Invest Large Sums of Money

“I believe as the world becomes smaller, parents realise that to be successful you have to be able to work with people from other nations. You have to understand cultural differences and be able to negotiate different cultural contexts. Cultural literacy is becoming critical, so that’s why parents are prepared to invest, sometimes lots of money, to have their kids in a context where they’re exposed to different ways of thinking. That’s why there have been many more international schools in Asia, and why they are not affected by the economy,” said Dr Alvarez.

Besides developing students’ cultural literacy, allowing local schools to set up international schools provides a means for our schools to learn from different models of operation in areas like school management, curriculum planning, teacher training, student development and teaching methods. These learning points in turn encourage constant evaluation and improvement in our own system.

In April 2004, when the EDB announced its support for the setting up of private international schools by Hwa Chong Institution and Anglo-Chinese School at a press conference, then Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Minister of State for National Development Vivian Balakrishnan said, “Allowing local schools to set up international schools not only makes for a more colourful educational landscape but provides more choice for both local and international students. These autonomous schools are not restricted by MOE and are therefore able to implement teaching methods which develop students’ entrepreneurship and creativity, becoming pioneers and models for the other schools.”

On the same day, the Managing Director of the EDB, Mr Ko Kheng Hwa, said, “This is the first time Singapore is leveraging on the repute of our top local schools to set up private institutions in order to attract international students to study in Singapore, helping us move towards the goal of becoming a global schoolhouse as a sustainable economic development strategy.”

Hence, setting up international schools in Singapore is not only beneficial for the economy but is also a move that provides opportunities for our local schools to observe, learn, try out, practise, and improve so they may become better.

This issue focuses on international schools, and for it we have interviewed the Principals of all three of our local international schools — Anglo-Chinese School (International), Hwa Chong International School and St Joseph’s Institution International High School. For our coverage of international schools that follow foreign systems, we interviewed the Heads of St Joseph’s Institution International Elementary School, Dulwich College (Singapore), ISS International School, Singapore American School, the United World College of South East Asia and EtonHouse International School. All nine Principals displayed global-mindedness as they spoke about their views and the kind of quality international education they aim to provide for their teachers and students. This issue of EduNation shows that the Singapore government recognises the close link between human and economic development, and is meticulous in the development of both.

Translated by: Lee Xiao Wen

新加坡经济发展局主席叶成昌2013年2月于新加坡德威英国国际学校的推介会上说：“跨国公司决定驻守在哪个城市发展，最重大的考量因素之一是那里有没有好的国际学校能让受聘前来工作的雇员的孩子接受良好教育。因此要吸引国际投资和跨国公司到新加坡来，优质的国际学校不能少。即便全球经济前景不明朗，不少国际公司仍在亚洲投资寻找增长的机会，这个时候，新加坡就是他们选择的目标。新加坡德威英国国际学校的成立，有助吸引更多国际企业到新加坡发展业务。”

设立国际学校具战略意义

由此可见，设立国际学校对新加坡经济发展来说，具有战略意义。

新加坡目前约有34所国际学校，学生人数约有4万人，绝大多数是外国人。自2004年起教育部批准华侨中学、英华中学和圣若瑟书院三所本地优秀主流学校，私人集资设立国际学校。三校均得到经济发展局的大力支持，包括协助他们向政府租借空置学校作为校舍，贷款并取得慈善机构和公益机构（Institution of Public Character）资格，让捐款者能获得税务优惠和扣税。

由本地主流学校私人集资办学的意念，是教育部前部长现任副总理兼财政部长尚达曼领导的“初院和中学高年级检讨委员会”，在2002年针对我国教育未来的发展提出的建议之一。

提供多一个升学选择

当时尚达曼表示，办私立中学和初院（高中），主要是为长期派驻新加坡的外国人家庭提供多一个升学选择。这些私校必须具有新加坡特色，至少一半的学生是新加坡人或永久居民，并遵循国家的教育政策，如推行双语教育和国民教育。不过，私立学校在课程内容、学费和会考体制方面有自主权。目前，三所由主流学校私人集资的国际学校主要开办中学和高中课程，包括提供“国际文凭课程”（IB）。只有圣若瑟国际中学在2008年办了小学，但是圣若瑟国际小学部不属于新加坡教育部属下的私立学校。

让新加坡本地学生接受国际学校教育，不在于这是贵族教育，而在于尽早让本地生在一个国际学生充斥、国际文化洋溢的校园里，结交各地朋友，培养起对不同文化的认识和尊重的文化素养，以便在全球化时代，成为能游走在不同文化，与不同国籍人士共事的世界公民。

亚洲国际学校激增

曾于2003年至2012年在国际学校理事会（Council of International Schools）认证部门工作的玛格丽特·阿尔瓦雷斯（Margaret Alvarez）对本刊说，在她工作的九年，有两大变化：一是亚洲国际学校激增，数目增加了两三倍之多。另外一项重大改变是亚洲有越来越多家长把孩子送进国际学校，亚洲国际学校已经不再只为到当地工作的外国人才的子弟服务。以泰国曼谷附近超过120所国际学校为例，其中就有不少是泰国学生。

家长愿意投下巨资

阿尔瓦雷斯说：“世界越来越小，家长明白自己的孩子要成功，必须了解其他文化，了解不同人有不同的想法，必须有能力和其他国家的人一起工作。这个‘文化素养’变得非常重要，这是家长宁愿从小就在孩子身上投下巨资的原因。在亚洲的国际学校越来越多，而且不受经济不景气影响，就是这个原因。”

除了培养学生的“国际文化素养”，让本地学校设立国际学校，也有借鉴国际办校模式，包括学校管理、课程编制、教师培训、学生培养、教学法等种种不同的思维，来改进、来提升。

2004年4月经济发展局在宣布支持华侨中学和英华中学设立私立国际学校的记者会上，时任贸工部兼国家发展部政务部长的维文医生说：“让本地学校设立国际学校，不只能增加我国教育景观的多姿多彩，为本地和海外学生增加多一个选择，而且还将因其能行使不受教育部局限的自主权，而实践更多富企业精神、有创新意念的教学法，成为我国教育界的先行者和楷模。”

当日经济发展局董事经理许庆和说：“这是新加坡第一次借重顶尖名校的名声来开办私立学校，借以吸引国际学生来我国就读，从而开展我国成为国际教育中心的事业，作为我国经济持续发展的策略之一。”

于是，设立国际学校对新加坡，除了具备经济利益，还为新加坡的学校赋上了观摩、借鉴、尝试、实践、改进、提升、更上层楼的积极意义。

本期“国际学校”专题报道，我们专访了三所本地中学办的私立国际学校。他们是英华国际中学、华中国际中学 和圣若瑟国际中学。外国国际学校系统，我们访问了圣若瑟国际小学、新加坡德威英国国际学校、伊顿国际小学、新加坡ISS国际学校、新加坡美国学校和东南亚联合世界学院。九所国际学校校长专访时展现的国际视野，他们以学生为本、重视社区服务活动、强制学习华语等校政，在在引人深思。这个专辑让人体悟新加坡政府在经营经济发展和人才培训的工作上是环环相扣，一丝不苟的。