Internatinal school around KL! Please give me advice!

i agree with you, the private school fee in msia is outrages. if possible i would suggest your child to study at the local Chinese primary school, wait till he finishes grade2 / 3 then move him onto the private English school, by doing so he will be able to speak both English and Mandarin very well, and you can save up money too.

Forget about the local Malay schools, many have bad teaching reputation and terrible racial discrimination issues.

hi dannyghee, did you ask raffleschool about their teachers qualification? i would expect ALL of them to have a minimum Bachelor degree + teaching qualification like PGCE.

Not all teachers at international schools in Malaysia are qualified, especially in the schools offering local children an international curriculum who also sit the local exams...

Most "international schools" in kl employ graduates with no experience and no training and stick them in classes with no support. Worse than local state schools. They have glossy brochures and a few glossy facilities. They rely on the fact local parents don't know the difference.

Management is local. Small thin veneer of expats. Often east European or south African. Or even Iranian. Some use Filipinos.

To tell a decent school

1. Look at principal. Are they an expat? Experience? Success before?

2. Are teachers qualified from the country's curriculum they are supposed to teach? Are local teachers experienced, given support and training, observed and standards maintained? Many fine local teachers especially for exam classes. You would expect min 50% expats to ensure training and standards are maintained. This does cut costs but all expats means fees of 75k plus

Nemodot wrote:

Most "international schools" in kl employ graduates with no experience and no training and stick them in classes with no support. Worse than local state schools. They have glossy brochures and a few glossy facilities. They rely on the fact local parents don't know the difference.

Management is local. Small thin veneer of expats. Often east European or south African. Or even Iranian. Some use Filipinos.

To tell a decent school

1. Look at principal. Are they an expat? Experience? Success before?

2. Are teachers qualified from the country's curriculum they are supposed to teach? Are local teachers experienced, given support and training, observed and standards maintained? Many fine local teachers especially for exam classes. You would expect min 50% expats to ensure training and standards are maintained. This does cut costs but all expats means fees of 75k plus

After spending the past two weeks school hunting and visiting a dussin schools all around KL I kan nothing else than to agree with you Nemdot. The "international" quality differs emmensly, more than I was expecting and much more compared to where our son previously attended school; Bangkok.
Being a teacher myself, I think many parents when school hunting get blindsited on the facilities instead of concentrating on the actual teachers and the size of the classes.

Anyhow, our son is starting school tomorrow and we feel confident we have made a good decision. As we pay out of our own pockets we have been serching in the RM 15.000-30.000 per year range. I have no intention of naming the school as some people my see that as free advertising but I will say that the school has an expat principal with a good track record, 80 % western expat teacher ratio and a maximum of 15 student class size in the lower primary where our son will be attending.

Kent

Sounds like Nexus - Putrajaya.

Am moving to KL this December 2013.. The schools that I have short listed are elc, champ aka and Sri garden...can anyone please give my your honest opinion of these schools .. I am looking for admission for my 9 year old twins...

Bgayathi - first check with the schools if they have space for two in the year you need - the decision may be made for you!

Ensure you can travel to your work easily from home and the kids can get to school as well.

Sri Garden is right in KL city centre

ELC is either in:

Cyberjaya (1 hr by car south of KL - 2/3 hrs in rush hour to get to KL City) - there is public transport to Sentral Station

or

Sungai Buloh (30 mins by car north of KL - 1/2 hours in rush hour to get to KL City) - no public transport there at the moment.

Cempaka is in Damansara - so you would probably live in completely different places depending on which school you enrol the twins at - competitive examination for entry. Cempaka also prepares Malaysians for the local examinations and I am not sure if it has any international standard teachers? The 100% pass rate is for those exams. An alternative to the local system and potentially has an Islamic focus?

http://schooladvisor.my/?p=features%2Fc … r-selangor

Thank you so much! can suggest on my international schools that is affordable?

If you check the link above, it has the fee ranges shown - details are given by clicking to the school's own website.  The range RM15k-RM30k is the least expensive type, but it does depend on age of children.

Am moving to KL this December 2013.. The schools that I have short listed are elc, champ aka and Sri garden...can anyone please give my your honest opinion of these schools .. I am looking for admission for my 9 year old twins...

can anyone please give information on how is the teaching and academics at ELC CYBERJAYA??

[Moderated: Off topic]

I have read that one way may be to try and enrol your son in a local private Chinese School that teaches in English. Their fees tend to be lower.

Hi All,

Read through the 2 pages and find it very informative.
Need advise from all.
We came back to Malaysia after 2yrs in Beijing in September 2013
My daughter was in IB program while in Beijing
She find the IGCSE different and we too think it is too academic compared with IB that stress on
development, motivation and self improvement.
We are thinking of changing.

She is now in Y9.
We stayed in Cheras area.
Any recommendation??
Preferably need not have to travel into those MRT construction area.
Worst traffic situation during rush hour.
(even Beijing morning traffice is better).

UK education is inclined to specialisation meanwhile American & IB are about generalisation. I suggest you consider the American school or probably the Australian school in KL for your daughter.

Thanks samsam for the reply.

We visited AISM in Seri Kembangan that runs on Australian syllabus.
But has not been able to find a school that runs on American syllabus nearby Cheras.

Wanted to change to seri cempaka in Cheras, but after reading so many bad points about it, decided otherwise.
Whatever we decide, it has to be before April as there is a 1term prior notice requirement for the return of deposit.
Thus any suggestion from all parents is much appreciated.

Hi Kent, could you kindly share which school is it? Many thanks!

Sir I'm Timmer Reubon i'm student and i'm pakistani in lahore i will coming in kualia lumpur for study i need school for studying sir i'm waiting for your reply soon 

You should visit Global Indian International School and take a decision. There are East Asian students in the School as well (because of the 'Indian' name in the School...there is a misunderstanding that it caters to Indian :-) ).

GIIS offers a Cambridge curriculum as well...which is affordable.

Thanks

manishja wrote:

You should visit Global Indian International School and take a decision. There are East Asian students in the School as well (because of the 'Indian' name in the School...there is a misunderstanding that it caters to Indian :-) ).

GIIS offers a Cambridge curriculum as well...which is affordable.

Thanks

Maybe you are right in that they are not specifically catering to Indian students. I myself would however think more than twice before enrolling at GIIS as the location doesn't get much more Indian as it is smack down in Brickfields.

Kent

What ever you do, don't send your children to MAZ international school. The principal has psychological problems and the staff that are meant to be teachers
don't even have qualifications, some not all.

Hi
If anyone looking for IGCSE centre that not only caters for normal children but also for children with dyslexia and other mild learning problems, then you should go to Q Academy in taman tun dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. My twins who are now in year 10 are dyslexic and they are very happy in this centre although they were formerly studying in the UK. I had to bring them back to Msia  as I am now working here. I am fortunate to have finally found a school  that caters to their needs. Teachers here are very good, understanding and willing to go extra mile to help my twins.
The centre is located in :  Q Academy Sdn Bhd, No 2B (2nd floor), Jalan Wan Kadir 1, taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Tel no (03) 77313468/0122224043 Ms Lilian Tan

Hi All!
I'm looking for a quick migration. Actually I want for my daughters good quality education in Islamic atmosphere, I mean in Islamic country like Malaysia. Will u pls suggest me how to do it faster?

Do the parents get permit of residency their kids get admission there in Malaysia?

Thanking
Tasmina

Yes and no. You dont get residency but you may be able to get a permit that allows you to stay as a Guardian. It depends on ages of children and you must have an offshore income. You of course have to enrol them in a private or international school here. Some will help you apply for the Guardianship permit. Look at MM2H as well but that requires money.

If you are Malaysian, you are entitled to enrol your kids at a government school. If you're not, you can't.

So, if you come to Malaysia as a foreigner, you will have to look for a private school to enrol your kids into. This may be an international school, may be a Chinese school, etc, depends what you are looking for, can afford, and which schools have space.

As far as international PISA result is concerned, none of the Islamic countries (incl. Malaysia) has achieved above average grade in maths and reading, this may also indicate a less than ideal education system in these countries. If you are seeking for a good quality state run school for your daughter, then Malaysia may not be your ideal choice.

A reply to emmarooney. I believe if the parents can get a valid resident visa in Malaysia their child can pursue the public education.

A reply to Keris-keris. Have you checked this website http://www.ibo.org/en/programmes/find-an-ib-school/ for IB school in Malaysia?

Hi

I'm looking for international school for my kids. Any recommendations?

I have 3 sons, for this new coming school os year 8, year 6 & year 3. Since we having 3 kids its a bit difficult to find a school that we can afford.  Anyone any suggestion?

Hi have you found a school already? Can you give a few tips regarding british school. And I'm searching for affordable school fee since I have 3 boys.

Which school can you advise? Because I'm having the same problem to send 3 kids because the company didnt pay for  schooling fees. Plus we are Malaysian.

Are you planning to pay yourself or the company paying for you? And if the company paying maybe you can find school much more easier than me. Good luck

After much research based on type of syllabus, quality, cost, ratio and distance, we  chose Sri Cempaka international school, on average per child is 30k per annum, school follows IGSCE syllabus. It places plenty emphasis on arts. Doesn't have foreign teachers. Currently their in cheras, moving to damansara campus next January. Hope this helps.
We have a friend's daughter who goes to Nobel international school. She has spoken highly about it, alternative option if Sri Cempaka is expensive.

As for the rest international school, they are fairly expensive both good review and poor reviews.