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Singapore Homestay
------------------------------------------ Discerning parents shopping for accommodation for their children studying in Singapore would find student homestay, an attractive choice. Generally, such a service is offered with or without guardianship. Several factors favour homestay as an ideal and sensible option over others such as hostels and dormitories. These include: * Higher expectations of students and parents. They want the best in convenience and comfort, guardian care and support and service quality. * Singapore's growing status as a global education hub. This in turn spawns a vibrant and thriving industry specialising in homestay and guardianship targeted at international students. * Increasing affluence in Asia. Youths from the rising economies of China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia form the bulk of Singapore's international students. Therefore, affluent parents are willing to invest for their children's quality education including their homestay and guardian care in Singapore. Why choose homestay? --------------------------- A major concern of many parents of children studying abroad is their offspring's accommodation. Parents are usually worried about the location or district where the house is sited, the accommodation type, the costs involved and the quality of the related services. Hence, homestay in Singapore has an edge over other housing options available because: * The guardian or house-parent to students ratio is low compared to say, that of a hostel. Therefore, the standard of guardian care and support is higher in comparison. * The ambiance and environs of a typical Singapore Homestay accommodation (pictures) is of a higher quality than other alternative accommodation types. A Singapore homestay offered by Mrs Homestay for instance gives students a home-away-home feel, living with an ordinary family in a typical Singapore household. * Home-cooked meals and laundry and ironing services provided in a homestay are superior in quality. * Homestay in Singapore provides students with greater personal touch, flexibility and space compared to other forms of student housing. How to select a Singapore homestay - the Ideal? -------------------------------------------------------- Good planning and the student's interest should be taken care of when considering the location and type of homestay. Before deciding on their choice, parents need to iron out several issues including: 1. Their budget or financial constraints, if any. Homestay accommodation with guardianship in Singapore ranges from SGD $1,000 based on current estimates. 2. Distance between the school and location of the homestay under review. Schools' locations frequently coincide with main transportation axis that provides accessibility to bus or/and MRT ( Mass Rapid Transport, often known as Subway in the west ). Learn the transportation system in Singapore. 3. Amenities available in the vicinity of the homestay. Singapore residential districts provide access to MRT stations, taxi-stands, bus-stops and interchanges. Other amenities include public swimming pools, public gym, other sports facilities, cinemas, and shopping malls. 4. Quality of the homestay providers, guardians, house-parents or hosts. It is most important to consider the openness of homestay hosts towards receiving international students who may come from very different cultures. The level of care and support given by the host family to your child may directly affect his or her performance. 5. Condition and ambiance of the homestay premises. When reviewing homestay premises, the emphasis is placed on cleanliness, maintenance status especially of the student's bedroom, toilet and shower facilities. 6. Services on offer such as Internet, laundry, meals and guardian care. 7. There are several types of homestay accommodation available in Singapore. Generally, this falls into two groups: a) Private Homes b) Public Housing or commonly known as HDB apartments. HDB Apartments ------------------- HDB stands for Housing Board Development. HDB is Singapore's brand of high quality public housing. HDB residential district has over the years benefited from Singapore Government initiative for city renewal. On our blog, you may learn more about HDB homestay in Singapore and recent HDB developments including international awards. Depending on locations, HDB homestay fees are generally priced lower compared to a private type homestay accommodation within the same vicinity. Pictures below show facilities in a public (HDB) residential district. Lastly I like to briefly mention the Singapore education system on the following section. Singapore Education System The Singapore government runs a comprehensive network of top-rate schools and universities. These cover a slew of courses ranging from pre-primary to tertiary level. Public tertiary institutions include three universities: National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and five polytechnics. Insead Business School and other renowned institutions maintain their Asian campuses in Singapore too. The private educational sector is thriving with a wide selection of schools and courses on offer. Finally you can read more about Singapore Education System at our blog where we plan to provide frequent updates about public and private school system. I hope you have found this article useful in providing you guidance in selecting your homestay. Thank you for reading. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com |
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