Enrolment Boom For School

Source : The Straits Times, May 15, 2009

THE newest 'local international' school here has seen enrolment boom since it first began accepting students two years ago.

St Joseph's Institution (International) has about 40 expatriate children on the waiting list for its primary section, which has filled all its 320 places for the new academic year beginning in August.-- PHOTO: SJI

In fact, St Joseph's Institution (International) now has about 40 expatriate children on the waiting list for its primary section, which has filled all its 320 places for the new academic year beginning in August, said principal Andrew Bennett at the school's official opening on Friday.

The success of SJI (International) mirrors that of the two other similar schools here - ACS International and Hwa Chong International, both of which opened in 2005 and have seen enrolment grow five or six times since then.

On Friday, the chairman of the SJI (International) board, Mr Lawrence Da Silva, retraced the school's successful arc since it first began accepting students in 2007.

Its pioneer batch had just 112 students, and this has grown to 725, all of whom are enrolled in the school's 12-year programme, which leads up to the International Baccalaureate.

Demand is so strong that the school, in Thomson Road, expects enrolment to grow to 1,000 by next January.

In his speech at the event on Friday, guest-of-honour Dr Tony Tan, a patron of the SJI International Leadership Council, a group of old boys who raised funds and helped set up the school, pointed to one factor in its success.

Dr Tan, an old boy of SJI himself, said the school's Lasallian mission provides for a unique learning environment.

This mission aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge to lead productive lives, while inculcating sound moral values wthin the context of Singapore's multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural society.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.