Jurong West site slated for international school

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

by Leila Lai


A FORMER secondary school site in Jurong West is open for tender to be repurposed for foreign system school (FSS) use, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) announced on Tuesday.

The tender for the former Pioneer Secondary School site at 21 Jurong West Street 81 aims to draw proposals specifically from operators interested in providing more affordable foreign system education.

FSS are commonly known as international schools in Singapore, and offer primary or secondary education in accordance with a foreign curriculum such as the International Baccalaureate.

Marcus Dass, director of human capital at EDB, said: "While many existing foreign system schools in Singapore have been delivering high quality international education, there are requests for more affordable and diverse school options."

"Suitable premises without extensive facilities common in many existing international schools will allow operators the opportunity to provide quality international school education at a more affordable fee."

Yap Eai-Sy, deputy director of business planning and development at SLA, said that converting a former school will be cheaper for operators, as they will not have to construct new buildings.

She added that the tender specifies a 3+3+3 year rental scheme rather than a 30-year lease with a premium payable upfront, to further reduce capital outlay.

Bids will be assessed holistically using the Price and Quality evaluation format, with bid price accounting for 50 per cent of the overall score and proposal quality making up the remaining 50 per cent.

The quality of the proposed concept will be a key consideration in determining the winning bid. As a result, the site may not be awarded to the highest bidder.

Ms Yap said: "The introduction of a Price and Quality tender for FSS use will allow us to provide moderate-fee FSS options whilst ensuring that State properties are appropriately optimised pending long-term development."

A closed-door briefing will be held on Tuesday, April 25 to provide more details on the evaluation criteria and site. Interested parties who are keen to learn more and wish to participate are invited to attend. For more information, visit www.sla.gov.sg/spio