The Usual Place Podcast

$8,000 mortgages and double tuition for same subject: The cost of Singapore’s education arms race

What’s driving parents to continue taking part in the education “arms race”?

Natasha Ann Zachariah

Parents have long complained that the education system in Singapore is too stressful for children.

To address their concerns, the Ministry of Education has made policy changes over the years, including scrapping PSLE T-scores and removing weighted assessments and examinations at certain levels.

But have these measures worked?

A recent survey by the Institute of Policy Studies showed that parents are more stressed than 10 years ago, and they are spending more on tuition and enrichment classes.

The Straits Times also reported that some property agents now explicitly market themselves as Primary 1 strategists or consultants, and advise clients to plan ahead so their children can get into the school of their choice.

If the system has been easing up, what’s driving parents to continue taking part in the education arms race? And are the tuition and property industries capitalising on their anxiety?

In this episode, I chat with:

Jacqueline Ho, assistant professor of sociology at Singapore Management University, who researches the Singaporean education system, and
Prab Nathan, a property agent and former school teacher, as well as a father of two. His elder daughter will be in Primary 1 in 2027.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:46 Are property agents feeding parents’ anxiety?

9:18 Is it smart to move for a school?

11:45 School status should not be a priority: Prab

25:42 Why parents get FOMO over extra tuition

28:30 Are parents who send their kids for tuition really kiasu?

34:00 Is being a “relaxed parent” a luxury?

43:39 What’s wrong with having a shadow education system?

49:50 Parents strategise to cope with inequality

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