According to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), this decision to invite more Foreign System Schools to set base in Singapore is taken to meet the ever increasing educational needs of children of the international executives and employers working here in the country. This step will ensure that Singapore remains one of the hottest attractions for investment and operations for Multi-national companies.
Taking a step further in the direction, the Singapore Economic Development Board has announced that it will soon be launching a Request-For-Interest (RFI) exercise for FSS. This will allow FSS to nail down some sites from the specifically defined zone for education purpose, on a lease of minimum 30 years. According to EDB, such sites will be called by land planning agencies for the purpose of long term development.
Additionally, this long term investment on land is also applicable for already existing FSS. There are about 30 international schools already functional in Singapore; this step will therefore, assist the existing international schools to expand their area of operations and deliver the highest quality education.
Previously too, there have been such exercises by the government departments to offer long term land sites for international schools in 2008, 2010, and 2012, but this is by far the biggest such offering.
According to the Singapore Economic Development Board, the applications for the allotment of sites are evaluated on the basis of quality of the FSS’s proposal, previous track record of the FSS, the FSS operator’s financial standing, and their ability to deliver according to market demand.
The application submission process has been halted, and evaluation for the sites has been made in a closed-door briefing. The details of the same are still awaited.