Shafiq passed his AEIS!!!

My darling son Shafiq made his parents so proud today. He passed the AEIS (Admission Exercise For International Students) exams and has been offered a place in one of the top local schools in Singapore. It is extremely difficult for international students to enter the mainstream public schools here and for Shafiq to be able to pass the exams after going through so much this year, is such a blessing. Alhamdullilah.

One of the main reasons that influenced my hubby’s decision to accept the job offer in Singapore was primarily due to our son’s education. Back in Hong Kong, Shafiq was studying in an International School and we found the education system lacking in so many ways. The International school system seems to emphasis more on play rather than education and having to fork out HKD5,000 a month on schools fees was such a waste of money when I could have just had Shafiq home schooled.

We could have just continued sending Shafiq to another International School here in Singapore but we’ve learnt our lesson in Hong Kong. No more International School for our son. The education system for the local schools in Singapore are so advanced. Their maths curriculum for example, if I were to compare to the schools in Malaysia, the Primary 1 students in Singapore are doing Math equations that are being taught to the Standard 3 students back in Malaysia.

Some sample of Primary 1 Maths question here in Singapore:

Sample 1:

Miss Koh, the Mathematics teacher, told the class that they can multiply 3 different ways to get the answer 20. Write the three different ways below.

Sample 2:

Amelia and Roger have 20 dollars. When Roger give Amelia 4 dollars, each of them has the same amount of money. How much money does Amelia have at first?

Sample 3:

Whenever Danny saves $2 in his coin box, his father puts in $1 into Danny’s coin box. How much money does Danny save on his own if his father puts in $9?

Note: I don’t seem to remember attempting that sort of questions when I was in Standard 1.

On top of that, English is the language of classroom instruction where back in Malaysia, they have already scrap off teaching Science & Maths in English. Regardless of the fact that English is the medium used in the local Singapore schools, as part of Singapore education system, all students are required to study their mother tongue language as part of the curriculum. In Shafiq’s case, he’ll get to study the Malay language as a subject at the local school here, something that he will not be able to do if we were to enroll him into an International School.

I am not trying to be an advocate of the Singapore education system but they must be doing something right as more and more expat parents are trying to enroll their kids into the local schools here. On top of that, many Malaysian parents especially the ones staying in Johor, Malaysia are sending their kids to the schools in Singapore whereby the kids commute to Singapore on a daily basis.

I really hope that Shafiq will be able to get the best out of the education system here in Singapore. As a parent, I only want what’s best for my darling son.

Wishing him all the best in his new school.