Source : Straits Times - 9 Sep 2008
PARENTS whose children are on the waiting list of United World College (UWC) of South East Asia’s new Tampines campus may be in for a disappointment.
Only part of the campus slated to open in 2010 will be ready then, which will cut the number of students who were supposed to enrol.
UWC principal Julian Whiteley said contractors keen on the project have told the school that they would not be able to complete it on time as they have other projects on their hands.
Mr Whiteley, who is now calling for tenders, said the construction boom has made it tough to find suitable contractors.
‘We do not want to compromise on standards and decided to delay the completion of the project,’ he added.
So the plan to take in 1,150 students from Kindergarten 1 (K1) through to Grade 11 on its 5.5ha Tampines Street 73 campus by August 2010 has been shelved.
Instead, the campus will open in phases. Only the infant school for pupils from K1 to Grade 1, where the demand is greatest, will open in August 2010.
The rest of the campus will open the following year, when pupils from Grade 2 upwards will join the school.
Until then, the school’s week-old interim campus in Ang Mo Kio will continue operating.
Its main Dover campus with 2,950 students will continue to run even when the Tampines campus opens.
The Ang Mo Kio campus, set up to hold pupils until the Tampines one is ready, now has 380 pupils from K1 to Grade 4.
This number will grow to 540 by next year. The campus will then be running at maximum capacity.
In 2011, these pupils will move to Tampines, which will then have a total enrolment of 1,400 to 1,500. Enrolment will climb to 2,500 in five years.
Among those affected by the delay are 70 students who have applied to enter Grades 7 to 11 in Tampines in 2010.
The mother of one of them, Ms R. Arora, 38, yesterday expressed disappointment over the news.
‘We were planning to buy a property in Tampines and then this news came suddenly. It is very disappointing,’ she said.
Her son, now 10, is studying at the Global Indian International School (GIIS). He had applied to enter Grade 7 at the Tampines campus in 2010.
Ms Arora is now exploring various options, including letting him continue at GIIS or transferring him to another international school.
UWC has also offered parents like her the option of transferring their child’s application to the Dover campus. The catch, though, is that the child will enjoy no additional priority over others already on the waiting list there.
Said Mr Whiteley, who sent letters out to parents yesterday to inform them about the delay: ‘There will be parents who will be disappointed, others who would have anticipated the delay. Informing them early would allow them to register at other schools if they do not wish to register at the Dover campus.’
Despite offering over 500 more places in both its campuses this year, UWC’s waiting list has grown by 300 students since last year to 2,300.
Recognising the increase in demand for places in international schools, the Government has stepped in to offer more land sites for up to four schools.
At a briefing last month, representatives from more than 50 schools turned up, including new players like Educomp from India.
NO LET-UP ON STANDARDS
‘With the construction boom, it has affected the availability of suitable contractors. We do not want to compromise on standards and decided to delay the completion of the project.’ - UWC principal Julian Whiteley
DISAPPOINTING NEWS
‘We were planning to buy a property in Tampines and then this news came suddenly. It is very disappointing.’ - Ms R. Arora, mother of a pupil who had applied to enter Grade 7 at the Tampines campus in 2010
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