Thks everyone for the info. Even though this deposit may be a common practice but to.a certain extent i felt like a violation of consumer rights. Suppose there was a sudden change on the teaching method, teacher or arrangement that is not acceptable, but its alrdy past the advance notice for withdrawal from course, we are to lose the deposit. Meanwhile course provider gets to safeguard their interests.

I just thought this is smthg that parents like me in our eagerness to support our children can sometimes fall prey to unfair tactics without realising the consequence of such ‘norms’.

Dear parents

I have an urgent need to know if any Enrichment centres/schools, tuition centres impose a deposit (e.g $100) when you sign your child up for courses and only refund you if you give notice of 4 weeks in advance should you decide to discontinue the course with the school? If less than 4 weeks notice is given deposit will be forfeited. If you know of any school having this T&C can reply to this? So far I know that I Can Read prog n ‘My English School’ has this unfair practice. Thks a lot

P.S This deposit is separate fr the non-refundable registration fees which was also paid to the school.

Dear parents

thanks for sharing with me, and I will note your advice!
I contacted Pacific Bookstore HQ and the cluster manager claimed that the booklist is reviewed and approved by the school. In the end, I requested for refund of the items that i do not need and she has kindly obliged. I also suggested editing the book list to clarify further on the compulsory part to avoid confusion. So if any other parents who met the same issue as me, you could contact the Customer Service.

From your sharing, I guessed that the bookstore could be doing this for a long time. And given its status as the largest school bookshop operator in Singapore, the school admin probably has placed enough trust to overlook the other issues. My objective of writing in to the school management was primarily to alert them of possibly unfair practice carried out in their name. I hope they see that point.

hi I have 2 gals, aged 6 and 2. The elder one will be entering HPPS P1 next year, and we are all excited with her progress into a new phase. I join this KSParent forum hoping to learn from everyone about primary school education and things happening in schools.


I came across a rather shocking book purchase experience recently that I hope other parents in this thread, especially parents whose children are entering P1 next year could share info with me. 2 weeks back, I went to the school to buy textbooks. In this Primary 1 textbook and stationery form given to us by Pacific Bookstore, there are 18 items listed as compulsory exercise books and stationery items (including PVC exercise bk cover, color palette, nylon brushes, sketch book oil pastels etc). I was told by the bookshop assistants that I have to purchase the entire set of items as part of the textbook orders as this is required (‘compulsory’) by the school. I was taken aback by this instruction because it came to me as hard sell of the bookshop’s own merchandise because there were many items there that we already have at home, we can just pack them in my gal’s school bag. But they insisted that I need to purchase the entire set otherwise they could not sell me the rest of the textbooks. Given no choice, I paid for everything. That 18 items totalled $68. I checked the list, the only ‘required’ items were the school exercise and jotter books, report book, name tags and subject files.

Can parents share if this has happened to you? The school management responded that this is not the case and is trying to evade my other queries.

I have also brought up a few issues here.
1) is the school is aware of the bookstore’s actions? Has the bookstore been using the school as an excuse to make profits without the school’s knowledge
2) Or has this practice been allowed by the management all along, which could suggest some sort of profit sharing?
3) items such as PVC exercise book covers, pocket refills, nylon brushes, A3 art bag, in my opinion, are good to have stationery but not essentials. There is no school mandate that all exercise books have to be wrapped or protected with covers. With regards to the art bag, i find it puzzling to insist on the same model, make and color. but fundamentally is there a significant difference for a child to use a similar sized tote bag or canvas bag to carry his or her artworks to and fro school? Or if the child’s ability to paint would be largely affected by the use of nylon or natural haired brushes or a particular brand of oil pastels and poster colours (the shop listed "Omni" brand for these 2 art materials).

sorry if this is too long for your reading, just airing some views. Thanks for sharing too.