3 Ways to Maximize Your School Trip Experience to Singapore

We run curated experiential education programs in Singapore for those visiting from abroad. We’ve compiled 3 easy and meaningful ways to elevate and enhance your school trip to Singapore!

1. Use public transportation

If your school group can manage it then our suggestion is to use public transportation.  

Buses are expensive in Singapore. There is a dramatic bus and bus driver shortage in Singapore. Bus drivers in Singapore like in many other countries must have passed separate driving tests from regular private car drivers. Due to the pandemic Singaporean logistics and tour companies saw a lot of drivers depart – they have yet to come back.

Many bus drivers in Singapore are foreign workers and it is hard to convince local Singaporeans to work the shifts required to be a bus driver. Despite the increases being offered in terms of compensation the labor shortage persists. Singaporean law also limits the percentage of foreign staff in any Singaporean establishment to 35%.

All of these reasons put together mean that private transportation in Singapore is exorbitant. Avoid passing on these fees to the parents by taking public transportation. Singapore has these amazing 2 story buses that are an amazing way to see the city! Even the subways have a glass window at the front of the carriage which makes underground travel fun.

The best thing is that, unlike in many other places around the world, Singaporean public transport is clean and runs on time. Almost 60% of the Singaporean population uses public transport for their daily commute.

What better way is there to experience Singapore like a local?  

2. Head to Hawker Centres for your meals  

Both real estate and labor are expensive in Singapore so sit-down meals are costly and complicated to organize. No matter! We’ve found that students themselves generally prefer the freedom and adventure of being taken to a hawker centre, given some cash and a meet-up time to find the food that they’d most like and sit and eat with their friends.

Students can compare and contrast their experiences in different hawker centres we go to as each of the hawker centres has a ‘specialty’ and its own unique vibe.

Singapore’s hawker centres are considered a national heritage culture and have been written about, and praised, all around the world. Two of these humble hawker centers have even earned Michelin stars!  

3. Arrange a School Exchange 

We believe that the value of a school trip, any travel, really – lies in learning the complexity and variety of the human experience. What do people here eat, what do they wear, how do they practice their religion, what language do they speak, etc…

When we curate these experiences for our young people it is touching to see that despite the differences they learn, it’s the similarities that they love, remember, and cherish. That is why we always do our best to arrange school visits or exchanges for our groups in Singapore. It gives our young people a chance to learn about each other’s experiences of being students in different places.  

p.s. Do your printing before you go to Singapore!  

I had to print worksheets for my students in Singapore, it was after regular business hours but I was able to find somewhere to print it. You are going to be paying one whole Singapore dollar per page. That is 5+ RMB or 0.75 USD. Make sure that you print anything you need prior to arriving in Singapore. 

Sources:

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/travel-agencies-and-bus-companies-face-major-shortage-of-tour-bus-drivers-despite-increasing-salaries