International schools must offer better value, prep kids for future workplace

GLOBAL financial and tech hubs from Silicon Valley to Hong Kong and Singapore have been waging a battle to win talent to provide IT services, disrupt businesses or join startups. Until now, the battle lines focused on costs or shortage of housing, the standard of living - including air quality issues in Beijing and Hong Kong - and availability of work visas.

The Singapore government has become probably the first in the world to directly tackle a major problem that few nations have openly addressed - the rising costs of international schooling in talent hubs. Recently, a significant public tender called by the Economic Development Board (EDB) closed with intense "bidding" by 12 school operators. The prize? The opportunity to run a 3.2 ha campus housing Singapore's first high-quality, moderate-fee international school.

The queues for international schools in Singapore have eased, but prices across Asia have not. Since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, expat packages have shrunk and benefits have been slashed. Expats are being forced to take a local remuneration package to keep their job; those that include subsidised housing and education are diminishing. Even as property rentals come down, international schooling remains the last major problem in this war on talent.