Leading Cambridge Institute private school in debt crisis
Students now at other schools, 2 teachers win suits for unpaid salary
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A leading private school has been left homeless after running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Cambridge Institute has had to transfer nearly all of its students to other schools and stop taking in new ones, after it was forced to temporarily close its five Singapore campuses because it could not pay the rent.
Two teachers have successfully sued it for unpaid salary at the Labour Court and nine more cases are pending. It is a dramatic turnaround in fortune for Cambridge Institute.
Just two years ago, the school - whose former students include the Thai teenager who recently lost both legs after falling onto an MRT track - had annual takings of $10 million. In 2007, it was awarded the Singapore Quality Class, which means it gained the stamp of approval for its good business practices.
