UWCSEA's East Campus will help to meet demand by expatriate parents for high quality education for their children.

In Singapore, local and foreign talent are key drivers of the city-state's economy. In order to ensure that Singapore continues to attract and retain talent, the provision of educational opportunities to both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans alike has been identified as a key priority.

The expansion of the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) to meet the demand from expatriate parents, reflects how Singapore is increasingly viewed as an attractive place to relocate families. UWCSEA will set up a second campus in Tampines to serve some 2,500 students from ages four to 18. The development of the new campus will be completed in two phases: facilities for K1, K2 and Grade 1 are slated to open in August 2010, with Grades 2-12 scheduled to start a year later, in August 2011.

The facilities at the 76,000-sq-m UWCSEA East Campus will match those of the school's campus at Dover Road. It will include theatres, sports facilities, specialist music and art studios, fully-equipped design technology workshops, drama and performing arts spaces, two libraries equipped as state-of-the-art resource centres, and IT, language and science labs. While the East Campus is being constructed, a vacated primary school in Ang Mo Kio has served as a transition campus for some 500 students.

What sets the UWCSEA East Campus apart are its "green" features. The campus is designed to BCA Greenmark Platinum certification standards, the highest grade in Singapore's green building grading and accreditation system. Built to be extremely energy efficient, it will consume 25 to 30 per cent less electricity than conventional buildings of similar size and function. It will also boast a solar powered air conditioning and hot water system - a first for Singapore.

Unique Learning Experience

With the second campus, UWCSEA will provide more students the opportunity to experience its holistic style of education. WCSEA is one of 12 non-profit UWC Colleges around the world. "What UWCSEA offers is a unique experiential, multi-cultural, holistic education with the goal of shaping responsible citizens. We have a strong ethos where students are encouraged to stretch, take risks and to think for themselves. In today's globalised society, our values are more important than ever. Students develop a sensitive awareness and respect for other cultures as well as a deep appreciation for environmental issues," says Simon Thomas, Project Director, UWCSEA.

UWCSEA's unique learning experience also sees its students growing and developing through non-academic activities. For example, community work is an important element in the school's extracurricular programmes.

Currently, UWCSEA's student profile ranges across 60 nationalities, with the largest numbers coming from the UK, US, India and Australia. New students come from families who have already lived an average of five-and-a-half years in Singapore. In addition, since most UWCSEA families are long-term residents, this has resulted in a low turn-over rate for the school, and in turn, a longer waitlist. "For many expatriates, UWCSEA is their school of choice and they are prepared to wait to get a place. Opening a second campus eases that wait," says Thomas.

While the quality of the teaching staff, the size of the school and its principles and ethos are some important decision-making factors for parents, location has become a correspondingly significant consideration for them as talent becomes increasingly mobile. As Singapore continues to grow from strength to strength as a business hub for Asia and the world, talent will not only be drawn by the business opportunities available to them, but also by the educational opportunities for their children provided by schools such as UWCSEA. "Singapore is booming. However, its growth as a global economic and business centre requires the availability of quality international schooling opportunities for the children of the global talent that Singapore is keen to attract." says Kishore Mahbubani, Chairman, UWCSEA Board of Governors. "Hence a second campus will both enable the College to spread the values of the UWC movement further and Singapore's economy to soar to greater heights."

Singapore the Ideal Place for Quality Global Education

The expansion of UWCSEA will certainly boost Singapore's reputation as an ideal place for expatriates to build a home. As they recognise that there are increasing opportunities for their children to enjoy high quality education in Singapore, it is also becoming more attractive for expatriates, together with their families, to call Singapore home.

At present, Singapore has 45 Foreign School Systems which offer a broad range of curricula, from the internationally recognised International Baccalaureate (IB) to country-specific curricula such as that of the Japanese, Australian, American or British. These schools also teach a range of age groups, from kindergarten to Grade 12.

In addition, there are three local international schools which include ACS International, Hwa Chong International and SJI International whose student population comprises half locals and half international students. To ensure learning and interaction in an environment that nurtures a Singaporean spirit and character, these schools abide by the Ministry of Education's bilingual policy and incorporate National Education along with other national practices into their curriculum. These allow non-Singaporean children to better understand and integrate into the local community, while giving all students the opportunity to study an international curriculum. These three schools, which complement the foreign system schools and the local public schools, are becoming more popular with the expatriate community and have increased the diversity of Singapore's educational landscape.