Huge Indonesian market excites Singapore education providers

BACK in 1994, after the birth of her first child, Seemun Suparno set about looking for a preschool in Jakarta that might give him an edge when it was time to apply to the capital's main international schools.

Ms Suparno's aim was to give her children an educational advantage while keeping the family together, rather than send them to Singapore for a portion of their education. But the options she found in Jakarta were not up to standard.

Comprised mainly of family-run operations with little professional training or curriculum, she was not confident such "mom-and- pop schools" would be able to provide instruction in English of adequate quality.