Pre schools, kindergarten and nursery schools are aiming for new heights today. The Child development program and orientation process has been discovering new ways to train the best. To what extent these efforts are effective and innovative? Can we add more value to their upcoming projects? How relevant these initiatives are for their great endeavour?

Before coming to the criticism part let us have a quick look on the Kindergarten and Primary education facilities of Singapore. Ministry of Education (MOE) primarily controls the development and monitoring activities for state schools and private schools. There are differences on autonomy, funding, course curriculum, tuition fees and admission procedure between these two levels of schools. Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWO) partially funded by MOE run Special education (SPED) schools for children with disabilities. For Singapore citizens expenditure in education sector comprises of 20% of annual national budget. This serves state education and government aided private sectors. For homeschooling also exemptions are allowed. English being the primary language for children which is being taught from pre school stage.

Kindergartens provide 3 years education to children aged between three and six. These are termed as Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2. There are more than 200 kindergartens registered with MOE. These are run by private sector, community foundations and business groups etc. Primary education is divided into two stages Foundation and Orientation. Foundation stage is a four year programme (Primary 1 to Primary 4) and  Orientation stage is for two year (Primary 5 to Primary 6). Primary education is compulsory and tuition fees in Singapore are free of cost up to this level. But monthly SGD 13 is being charged as miscellaneous costs.

 At the end of Primary 6, National Primary Schools leaving Exam is being held to determine whether the student is good enough to leave primary school and apply for secondary education.

 Home tuition Singapore is considered as an additional help for the parents seeking to improve their children’s grade and attain complete private assistance. Education policies are favouring meritocracy, the ideology to identify and nurture young students for leadership positions. Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) programme provides financial help to low income families having household income less than SGD 1500 or SGD 1800. Even every year Edusave Merit Bursary (EMB) is provided to about 40,000 students born in poor families. Ministry of education conduct exchange programmes with 120 primary and secondary schools in Singapore. Through this students get chance to visit overseas schools in ASEAN countries like China, India etc.

Why Investors like Singapore, is it because of GIP (Global Investor Programme)? The success of the Global Investor Programme can be attributed to great teamwork. What started out as an internal EDB objective to review its entrepreneurship programme, became an interagency collaborative effort to develop a holistic programme that caters to global investors in terms of our entry policy for foreigners interested in doing business here. The GIP eases the way for foreign investors, entrepreneurs and business executives to set up and conduct businesses in Singapore. EDB will provide assistance in linking up foreign entrepreneurs and investors with local business networks, thus opening up more opportunities for business collaborations. This Programme comprises of four key schemes offering a range of immigration options for the investors, entrepreneurs, and business executives.

1.    Permanent Residence for Investors
2.    Multiple Journey visa
3.    Social Visit Pass for Entrepreneurs
4.    Entrepass

Permanent Residence for Investors: Under this scheme investors can seek permanent Residence status in Singapore and will be qualified if he/ she

•    Invest at least S$1 million in a new business startup or expansion of an existing business operation or
•    Invest at least S$1.5 million in a new business startup, expansion of an existing operation, approved Singapore-incorporated venture capital fund or Singapore-incorporated foundation or trust that focuses on economic development or
•    Invest at least S$2 million in a new business startup, expansion of an existing operation, approved Singapore-incorporated venture capital fund or Singapore-incorporated foundation or trust that focuses on economic development. Residential property can be purchased with not more than 50% of the investment amount.

Other investment vehicles such as venture capital funds, foundations or trusts, and/or private residential properties will be considered for application for Permanent Resident applications. Up to 50% of the investment can be in private residential properties, subject to foreign ownership restrictions under the Residential Property Act (RPA).

Multiple Journey visa facilitates the frequent entry of business executives from visa-requiring countries into Singapore. Multiple visits, each lasting up to 30 days, are allowed during the validity period of the visa which may be for 1,2 or 5 year depending on the prevailing ICA’s guidelines. The application has to be submitted along with a Letter of Introduction from a Singapore Registered company. This eliminates the Visa application for each visit. This will be of immense relief to investors who have to travel frequently to Singapore to attend to their business and investments.

Social Visit Pass for Entrepreneurs enables an applicant to stay in Singapore for 6 months, to explore business opportunities, conduct feasibility studies or complete negotiations. During the validity period the holder can leave and reenter Singapore without any hassle. The application for the SVP has to be furnished along with a support letter from the EDB. To obtain a Letter of Support from the EDB the applicant has to provide an overview of the business indicating Objective of your stay, area of business interest, Preliminary business idea, Target market , Development strategy & proposed timeline, Track record of previous business ventures ,if any, Relevant skills & work experiences. It normally takes 5 days for the letter of support to be issued by the EDB while the SVP will be issued by the ICA quite immediately on the day of submitting the application or on the following day.

EntrePass is designed to facilitate the entry and stay of entrepreneurs in Singapore to directly manage the business operations, and comes with an initial validity period of up to 2 years. It is renewable as long as the business remains viable and lucrative. The EntrePass also allows the applicant’s immediate family to live in Singapore while the successful applicants start and grow their business here. With the EntrePass a person can leave and re-enter Singapore frequently with ease. The lucrative nature of business and efficacy of the business plan are the primary criteria for the Entrepass. Normally it takes around six weeks to know the outcome of the application.

Ms. Ragini Dhanvantray CEO of Rikvin consultancy offering a comprehensive Business Migration service for investors and entrepreneurs says “Singapore is emerging as the hub of Asia for almost all industry, offers the best quality of life and a safe option for investing. With assured return on investment investors and business men are keen to enter and explore the opportunity that this city state has to offer, and government facilitates such aspirants with focused programmes like the GIP. The overwhelming enquiries from the overseas investors ever since the launch of the programme has been growing in leaps and bounds and we are offering a full suit of service to such clients”.

The ultimate aim of a MBA program is to equip you with a sharply honed understanding of the strengths and limitations of various “skills and knowledge” domains: firm resources, risk propensities, and external market-competitive and socio-political environmental constraints pertinent to those decisions. But with the wide varity and disparity of choices in the market, one needs to make a discerning choice as to reputation and recognition of the qualification as its no longer about just the qualification but also the credibility of the business schools.

Nanyang Business School

The Nanyang Business School has been ranked one of the top business schools in Asia. The Nanyang Business School (NBS) is committed to excellent teaching, innovative curricula, quality research and dynamic industry links. The School’s brilliant academic record, excellent faculty and students, vast networks of corporate and international have earned itself the accreditations of AACSB International and EQUIS. It is the first business school in Singapore to achieve such a distinction. Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked it among the Top 100 for its MBA programme for the years of 2004 and 2005.

World Class Learning Environment

NBS has missions of growing business leaders for Asia and beyond, therefore it has put in place both the human capital and the physical infrastructure to create a world-class learning environment. The top echelons from the government and the industry gather at the school as the faculty. Today, it is partners with MIT; CMU; Richard Ivey School of Management; University of Western Ontario, Canada; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Shanghai Jiaotong University.

NBS provides some of the most advanced technology with a campus-wide computer network, and NTUnet, which links all the computing systems within the grounds of the University.

NUS – An experience of highest standards

NUS Business School is the first in ASEAN and among the firsts in Asia-Pacific to be accredited by AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) for meeting the highest standards of achievement in education and research for business schools worldwide. NUS Business school, established in the year 2002, is considered among one of the most popular international school. There are 100 full time faculty members who are dedicated towards providing the take best training of the students in their field of management.

NUS – Placed 33rd in the world in 2007 and 30th in 2008

NUS offers 27 single-degree undergraduate and 115 masters, doctoral and graduate diploma programmes conducted by 13 faculties. Internationally, The Times Higher Education Supplement(THES) placed NUS 33rd in the world in 2007 and 30th in 2008.

Has a distinguished international faculty

The School has a distinguished international faculty educated in renowned universities including Harvard, Wharton, MIT, Oxford and many others.

Student strength

The School now boasts of about 2,700 students including both post-graduates and under-graduates. The School prides itself in attracting a huge pool of smart, talented students  to its vast array of academic programs, including MBA, BBA, Executive MBA, PhD and MSc programs. It also offers a wide range of customized and open enrollment programs in its Executive Education courses

Baruch College, The City University of New York

Founded in 1847, Baruch College, The City University of New York is America’s largest AACSB accredited business school. Baruch College student tapped on an international network of over 100,000 alumni which includes 12 Nobel Laureate winners, one of the highest among public university worldwide.

Ranked one of US Top Graduate School by Princeton Review 2009

Baruch EMBA degree offers you the opportunity to expand your business knowledge while simultaneously transforming your career and network accessibility. Taught by highly regarded Baruch Faculty, this coursework-based program is tailored for senior executives in both in the private and the public sectors-and for entrepreneurs who must compete in a rapidly changing, technologically oriented, and highly competitive domestic and global business environment.

Distinguished international faculty

Major differences in age and prior work experience have a significant impact on the way students receive and absorb new learning; Learning needs of executive students are more context-oriented; i.e., students constantly evaluate their class experience in terms of how it would improve their decision-making skills, given specific or unique situations in their work environment. In addition, executive MBA classes are populated by students who are quite heterogeneous as a group in terms of diversity of educational backgrounds and professional work experience.

Strategic Thinking and Leadership Development

When you enroll in the Baruch EMBA Program, you make a strategic investment in your personal success and professional future. The phenomenal return is far beyond your financial investment. The program’s unique qualities, innovative structure, and instructional methodology are unmatched by any other executive program offered by major business schools in the United States and in other industrially advanced countries.

Bewildered?

All three Business Schools are world ranking schools imparting an international standard of learning to the students. If you can get into any of them you can consider yourself blessed!

So what i like to know is WHY BUSINESS PEOPLE WILL VISIT AND INVEST, AND HOW PAKISTANI AND ASEAN COMPANIES WILL BE BENEFITED.

University of Chicago Booth School of Management has produced leaders in the world of business. The Asia campus of the Chicago Booth is located at House of Tan Yeok Nee, at the junction of Clemenceau Avenue, which is regarded as the heart of Singaporeâ??s business and government district. This campus is famous for pertaining International Executive MBA in Singapore. In the first ever ranking of open enrollment executive educational programs, The Economist magazine has ranked Chicago as â??excellentâ? giving 4.5 in a scale of 1-5. Its full time MBA program was ranked number one by Business Week in 2008. Six of the faculties have won Nobel Prize, which speaks volume of the standard of faculties. Students of Chicago Booth have access to the latest business concepts. For full time MBA in Singapore in 2008-09, estimated cost for nine months was $78,972. The cost included tuition, health service, health insurance, books, rents and utilities, food, and transportation. In addition, there is $2,000 non-refundable security deposit. For further details:

International Executive MBA Program at Singapore
101 Penang Road
Singapore 238 466
65.6835.64.82
asia.inquiries@chicagobooth.edu

INSEAD is regarded as one of the best business schools in the world. A close tie with business communities, synergy between training and research has developed its integrative general management approach. INSEAD offers full time MBA, part time Executive MBA programme and executive development courses. The full time MBA is a 10-month programme that has been divided into five study periods, each of eight weeks. During the first three periods 14 core business subjects are covered and in the final two, students tailor their degree by choosing among 80 elective courses. The selection process is very competitive. Candidates are expected to have excellent academic qualifications, diverse range of experience, and management and leadership potential. Each campus of INSEAD has two intakes per year, one in January and the other in September. Students over 70 nationalities in two campuses of Europe and Asia also have the opportunity to take elective courses at Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia. Asia Campus of INSEAD is located at:

1, Ayer Rajah Avenue
138676 Singapore
Tel- (65) 6799 5388

Asia campus offers EMBA (Executive MBA), to download the EMBA brochure 2009/2010visit:
http//www.insead.edu/emba/documents/GEMBABrochure20092010_000.pdf or http://www.insead.edu/emba/index.cfm

Tuition fees for September 2009 and January 2010 entries amount to $51,000. There are other education related costs such as books and council fees. Business foundation programme, language course fees and laptop are optional. The estimated monthly expenses other than cost of study include accommodation, meals, transport, telephone insurance and transport that may vary from $2,000 – $3,000 per month.

The City University of New York (CUNY) Baruch College is the largest AACSB accredited business school of America that offers various MBA programmes in collaboration with Aventis School of Management. The Baruch campus at Singapore currently offers the following Executive programs:
Executive Master of Science in Finance
Executive Master of Science in Marketing
Executive Master of Science in Management of HR and Global Leadership

For further details contact:
Aventis School of Management
Baruch College, The City University of New York
ASEAN Representative Office
100 Orchard Road, Concorde Hotel Hotel # 03-08
Singapore 238840
Office: 65 6720 3333

To download brochures and other details, visit: www.cuny.edu.sg

Singapore is regarded in the business world as the gateway to Asia. Highly advanced infrastructure, close economic ties with India, China and comparatively low cost of MBA programmes from international business schools have made MBA in Singapore a highly sought after career option in Singapore.

The Singapore Scholarship is awarded by the Singapore Government to Government-endorsed students from other member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This is an excellent opportunity for Asean students who want to apply for scholarships and study abroad.

This Scholarship grant is for those who want to pursue a full-time undergraduate degree course (except for medicine and dentistry) at one of the following Singapore leading institutions:

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Singapore Management University (SMU)

Citizens of ASEAN member countries (except Singapore) are eligible to apply for the Singapore Scholarship. Duration of Scholarships: 3 to 4 years, depending on the discipline.

Asean Undergraduate Scholarship:

ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarships (AUS) are offered by the National University of Singapore (NUS) to award full-time NUS undergraduates who have outstanding academic merit and co-curricular activities.

The scholarship is open to students from all faculties. However there are limited scholarships for students who wish to undertake highly competitive courses in the field of Medicine, Dentistry and Law.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) also offers the Asean Undergraduate Scholarship for students from ASEAN nations such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The scholarship offered is for the pursuit of undergraduate programmes such as Accountancy, Aerospace Engineering, Art, Design & Media, BioEngineering, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences & Chinese Medicine*, Business, Business & Computing, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, Chinese, Civil Engineering, Communication Studies, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, and so on.

Please visit the relevant guide for more information on college scholarship grants.