The International Schools Review Forum

So what are people's best schools in these countries and why:

Singapore
Korea
China
Japan
Malaysia
Myanmar
Thailand
Taiwan (depending on who you are you might consider that China)
Hong Kong (yes, I know that's in China)
Brunei
Saudi Arabia (anything other than Aramco good?)
Kuwait
Qatar
UAE
India (not much talk of India on this forum)

Qatar
1. ASD
2. Doha College / Sherborne
3. Qatar Academy - yes, yes I know all about Dorje Gurung, but on a day to day basis it is actually very good school with good admin and FANTASTIC pay and benefits. Most of the kids are just fine too. Seriously.

4. Getting better (maybe): ACSD, Newton, Awsaj (AMAZING PAY,) Gulf English

5. Unknown quantities - British IS, Montessori, Sidra

Don't go near

Qatar Academy Al Khor or Al Wakra, any of the National Schools whose name begins with Al, Leadership Academy unless you are experienced in military schools/boarding schools.

And yes, let the games begin. Especially the people who know **** all about Qatar Academy jumping down my throat. Please, ignorance is SO unattractive........

The stories coming out of newton seem to be getting worse. I recall the debacle with flights and new hires.

Let's add the following countries to the list, too:

France
Germany
Hungary (Budapest)
Poland (Warsaw)
Switzerland
The Netherlands (my favorite)

Malaysia

Best schools, by which I mean most well established and best packages are probably ISKL followed by Garden International.

There are a bunch of other good schools but that generally don't pay quite as well: Nexus, Alice Smith, AISM, Mont Kiara.

IGB has only just opened, looks to pay well but I have no idea what it's like.

A lot of the other schools are technically international but are have a largely local staff and student body and I would avoid myself.

The best school in Taiwan is Taipei American School. There is a short list of other schools that also have good reputations, but none are in the same league as TAS.

Hi Teachermom,

I'd agree with you on TAS, but the one school that comes a distant second has one advantage I can think of over TAS and that's the IB program. Taipei European School has an excellent IB reputation and if that was what I wanted above all else, I would suggest heading to TES. Still, TAS is miles ahead in just about every other way to TAS as far as I can tell (though I have never worked at TAS, so take this with a grain of salt).

I really don't want to be a pedant but 'best school' is so subjective.

You really need to be more specific to enable this thread to have any worth.

Example: I can give you a list of the top 5 schools in Bangkok regarding salary/package. But that doesn't mean they are the 'best'. Some of the schools in that list would be undesirable for many people for many reasons....stress, politics, curriculum, etc.

agreed. There seems to be quite a 'North American' (to be diplomatic) bias on the forum in that American schools are routinely quoted as the best in each country, perhaps due to the large number of US teachers using this forum. Some of these schools, e.g ASIJ, TAS, don't offer the IB program, and others which do, such as AESD and ISB, generally don't hire teachers from anywhere but the US.

TAS does have the IB DP:

http://www.tas.edu.tw/page.cfm?p=413

But I get Mick's point about North American bias. This isn't a research-based venue, it's a forum, where people post their own experiences. Don't expect objectivity--we can each only post what we know.

There are a lot of schools that have very good packages, but in some places with more international schools there's a bit of a mixed bunch, such as Bangkok which has Bangkok Pattana and Shrewsbury as well paying British schools, ISB as an American school, and NIST for IB. China also has a fair mix, as do various countries throughout the Middle East. However, I do think that some of the schools more well known for high salaries are American schools, with ISB and Shanghai American being prime examples.

Looks as if we have moved from 'Best school' to 'Best package' already.

I agree with the comments about the American bias here and how that may not translate as the 'best school' for some teachers.

Continuing with the Bangkok theme, ISB, for me personally wouldn't be the best school there, due to its location and national bias, it's an American school at the end of the day, whether it teaches the IB diploma or not.

Personally I would prefer NIST, as I've spent all my, albeit short, IS career, at IB world schools and want to stay that way. I also love the lower end of Sukhumvit road where the school's located.

But we all knew that 'best' is subjective before replying to the thread, so keep the game going!

[quote="mollymillions"]Malaysia

Best schools, by which I mean most well established and best packages are probably ISKL followed by Garden International.

There are a bunch of other good schools but that generally don't pay quite as well: Nexus, Alice Smith, AISM, Mont Kiara.

IGB has only just opened, looks to pay well but I have no idea what it's like.

A lot of the other schools are technically international but are have a largely local staff and student body and I would avoid myself.[/quote]

Poorly informed post. Mont Kiara is the second best paid school in KL. In terms of the British schools, The Alice Smith school's basic salary is still about 15% higher than Gardens', with superior health benefits and a much better reputation.

You know more about the pay-scales than I do then Auniesocial, I'm going by their Search profiles and own websites. According to them, someone with 4 years experience could expect:

ISKL $60,000
IGB $54,000
Nexus $52,000
Mont Kiara $37,000

Just nipped on to SA website.

ISKL - 4 years with BA - 43000 usd - 20% deducted for tax. 8 years with MA - 59000 - 20% tax.

Mount Kiara - 4yrs 27000usd / 8yrs 35000usd - 20 to 26% tax

IGB - 4yrs - 54000usd / 8yrs - 60000usd - 23% tax

FYI - Garden and Alice both have good reputations, but the Wonderland school is the non profit with the slightly better rep.