[Photo: Jayne Nadarajoo (in black) with children from the White Lodge Early Learning Centre.]

By MICHELLE YEO

A LOCAL chain of preschools has created an education system that encourages children to be independent thinkers and dreamers, and is now thinking of exporting its model to countries in the region.

White Lodge Early Learning Centre was founded by husband and wife Ganesh Kanapathy and Jayne Nadarajoo, who wanted the ideal education for their two children but were disappointed with what the market offered.

'We wanted to provide the best education for our children. We wanted a school which met their educational needs, yet is caring, loving and snuggly; this was difficult to find. We wanted to inculcate in them a love for learning and a love for life,' says Ms Jayne.

But since no school then met their requirements, they decided to start one as they also wanted their children to mix with other kids. 'We became businessmen by accident,' Ms Jayne chuckles.

'We wanted our children to look back when they have grown up and say that their preschool days were the best experience of their lives.'

In 1999, the couple opened the school in Linden Drive, in a rented bungalow, with four teachers and three students, one of whom was their son. And they've not looked back, with a new branch opening every other year. Now, White Lodge hires 88 teachers who look after 520 students - 90 per cent of whom are foreigners from 21 nationalities.

'At White Lodge, we allow them to dream,' says Ms Jayne. 'We focus on approach more than results. Some love houses, others cars. We personalise our education and inspire them to be what they want to be, by providing them with an education that allows and encourages them to pursue their interests.

'There was a boy who was really fascinated by cars and told his teacher that he wanted to build a Formula One car in the future. This is one lofty dream for a six-year-old, but children should not be told that it is impossible. We encouraged him and explored 'a unit of enquiry on cars' to extend his interest further.'

On the day of the BT interview, the children were learning about Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, and that the latter made a speech entitled 'I have a dream'. Ms Jayne says: 'We inspire children to have dreams here at White Lodge, and nothing is impossible. We always tell the kids to go for it.'

The children will each be giving a freedom speech during the parent presentation.
At White Lodge, the teacher to children ratio is 1:6, compared to 1:15 at most other kindergartens. The aim is for teachers to have time to observe and give their fullest attention to every child.

White Lodge offers three-hour or five-hour sessions. For a five-day week, the charge is $180 for the three-hour session, and $220 for the five-hour one. This is almost half the price of other international preschools.

The current economic climate, says Ms Jayne, is good for preschools such as White Lodge because parents can stretch their dollar. With fees at less than half of international schools, their children can get a comparable quality of education in a homely environment.

With five schools under their wing now, the couple go round the various branches to monitor teacher standards and make sure that procedures are followed, but more importantly, to interact with the children. Ms Jayne works with the head of curriculum to ensure that the content is relevant and interesting.

This will also be implemented in the schools in the region as well.

In Singapore, the location of branches is based on the addresses of children on the wait-list. 'We only open a school in the area when we have demand for it. Same goes for our regional plan, there is demand for our education abroad, so we are going there.'

On exporting the brand to the region, Mr Ganesh says: 'We are confident that made-in-Singapore brands have quality. Since we have such a great education opportunity, why not share it with fellow educators who are passionate about teaching?'

The couple say that they are looking to venture to Hanoi in Vietnam because there is a growing expatriate market there. A market survey found that there are not enough international schools in Hanoi, and there are also returning Vietnamese who are looking for a unique education system for their children.

A joint venture with a Vietnamese partner is already in the works. They are planning to have 100 students in their school in Vietnam.

They are also looking at India and China where they will be franchising their education model and working in partnership with schools that are interested in their curriculum.

Ms Jayne says that there is a special reason for eyeing India. She has always wanted to educate the children in the slums of India. I-India is also the charity she adopted for White Lodge in Singapore.

'Education is a business that never goes out of style,' says Ms Jayne. Despite the recession, the couple are thinking of expanding their business into the region.

Mr Ganesh points out that during the downturn, rent and labour costs are cheaper. 'When (the market) peaks, we will reap the rewards.'

Besides, Singapore is an education hub and exporting an education model from Singapore would most likely be well-received by people around the region.

To ensure that the quality of education is present in every school around the region, the couple will send staff from Singapore over to train the new teachers, have audit procedures in place, and make sure that environmental standards are met. 'After which, any good business should be self-sustaining,' says Mr Ganesh.

This article was first published in The Business Times .