Singapore has been ranked top five with highest savings for education in Asia Pacific. 80% of Singaporean households save an average of 14% of their monthly household income regularly for their children’s education fund according MasterCard’s Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Education survey. The regional average in Asia Pacific is 71%.
On top of the ranking is Thailand with 95% followed by 82% in Taiwan and 81% in India. Australian and New Zealander households have a much lower percentage at 35% and 34% respectively.
Academic learning and excellence continues to be a key focus for parents in Singapore. 40% of parents send their children for tuition in academic subjects. Close to two-thirds of households in Singapore spend money on non-academic extracurricular classes for their children with 26% for sports and 20% for musical pursuits. Majority of Singaporean parents (60%) intend to send their children to a local university.
The research was conducted in quarter four last year with 7932 respondents aged 18 to 64 in 16 Asia Pacific countries.