Parents queue overnight for place on kindergarten waitlist

They queued for hours just to get kids on Nanyang Kindergarten's pre-nursery waitlist for enrolment in 2013.

They may be 'kiasu', but they're not afraid to admit it.

Parents queued overnight outside of Nanyang Kindergarten to get their one-year-olds on the waitlist for their pre-nursery enrolment in 2013, reported the Straits Times

Those in the pre-nursery programme when they are three, will continue into the kindergarten programme until they are six.

One big reason for its popularity? The school along Bukit Timah boasts Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his children among its notable alumni.

Another reason is the school's emphasis on the teaching of Chinese language.

A queue started forming at 9pm on Sunday, and by the time registration started yesterday at 7.30am, more than 70 parents were already filing past the school gates, with the $100 administration fee in hand.

There are now more than 100 names on the waiting list, said the school's principal, Magdalene Ang.

According to the Straits Times, registration will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to those whose siblings are current or former pupils, or whose parents were former students of the kindergarten.

But this system is apparently not enough to assure some parents already on the priority list.

One parent whom the Straits Times spoke to, Mr Jason tang, 46, started queuing at 5am because he did not want to take any chances. His elder son, six, is already in Nanyang Kindergarten which would put his second child on the priority list.

The high school fees are not a deterring factor either. According to the report, prices for a 10 week term and pre-nursery in 2009 costs between $1,669.20 and $1,776.20, double what it was before.

pls note that : The 74-year-old kindergarten is also the alma mater of PM Lee Hsien Loong and his children.