there will be More foreign system schools campuses in Singapore

A Singapore government committee has come up with a novel approach to address the growing demand for foreign system schools by expatriate families here. / a2 J- k" f% m$ A: J9 Y3 |, {

8 t/ ]' ^0 }1 W+ M' v7 I& bIt is inviting interested parties to submit proposals for seven 'greenfield' and 'brownfield' sites that have been identified for use by foreign system schools. # }  ^7 @3 m! ?1 v8 x$ l: j$ c

* z* ^" b$ K: q1 ]4 U0 KIf the idea takes off, these sites will add to the 19 international schools currently sited on state land, such as the Canadian International School, United World College of South East Asia, the International Community School and Avondale Grammar School. / e# _- G& R4 a* M6 ~

/ ?" \3 |* _" N9 Z7 A) T0 I'Greenfield' sites will have a lease period of 30 years, while 'brownfield' sites will be leased out for an initial term of three years, with an option to renew for another two terms of three years.
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2 i0 H" {! D' y: }$ X$ e) A( s/ P* LThe former Nan Chiau High School is one of the four vacant buildings or 'brownfield' sites, under the Request-for-Interest (RFI) exercise. The others are the former Upper Serangoon Secondary School, former Fuchun Primary School and former Jurong Town Primary School. 1 P% s( h+ C& W7 `$ m1 `% G

; a5 Q+ y; T! K, t6 _7 XThe three vacant land plots or 'greenfield' sites released by the government for this exercise are in Yishun, Hougang and Bukit Batok.
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Schools like the Global Indian International School are keen to submit their proposals.
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; L  z5 Y- g4 l* ?1 `; \With three campuses in Singapore set up in five years and over 4,000 students, the school is confident of even greater demand for international schools in the future.
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Atul Temurnikar, chairman of the Global Indian International School, said: "It is going to help any international school, which takes the option, to have a permanent base for 30 years. There is a direct economic benefit that when you operate on a land with your own school building, it's going to be economically cheaper in the long run."
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+ `2 v# M9 U+ f( q+ K3 DBut there are stringent requirements to be met. The multi-agency committee, chaired by the Economic Development Board (EDB), will assess proposals based on several factors including quality of the project, investment commitments as well as the ability to commence classes in 2009. + N1 T6 t+ k% I" l8 B) @9 x6 M5 U- r

7 ~$ w; i& I8 `  g4 W1 U2 rApplicants are to submit their proposals by September 19 and short-listed applicants will be interviewed subsequently.   \' w! d! z6 e: J0 h

& c2 B7 z  E3 O0 h( BSuccessful applicants will be notified in early October this year. - CNA/so