The International Schools Review Forum

Anyone familiar with IST/Tianjin, China? Considering this an option as it's an IB program.

My 2 cents is....if you want to do IB and you want to do China find a city that's a bit easier (expat friendly) to live in like BJ or, my preference, Shanghai. Or, do you have other criteria? What's your situation?

I know a couple that worked at IST. They said the money was excellent, with a huge savings potential, and the students were great. Largely Korean population, so not as international as some schools may be, but Tianjin isn't really a huge draw for expats.

Despite the money and the students, they got out after two years. Horrible pollution, and Tianjin isn't really an 'expat city'. There aren't a lot of expat friendly amenities available, and while it might not seem like a big deal initially, it can really start to wear on you after a while. We had briefly considered Tianjin, just to get IB experience, but we had already done several years in China and we started to feel ground down and exhausted. Much happier to be where we are now. That being said, if you haven't been in China before and really want that IB experience, it might be a good foot in the door, but go in with eyes wide open.

I'm quite familiar with Tianjin already as I've been living in China for a few years. I'd like to move into an IB school but due to having a non teaching spouse and two dependents, I'm scoping out areas in SE Asia that won't be as competitive while still being able to have a fairly good savings potential and gain some experience in an IB school.

I currently teach in an international school, primary grade level and will have finished my 2nd two year contract next year. IST seems to have a strong reputation but in a less desirable location.

Are there other schools in China or SE Asia you'd recommend?

What about Zhuhai International School? They have just started their DP year and have been running the PYP and MYP already. I really like their current head and have worked for him before. However, I've seen negative reviews of him on the paid side that I can't really speak to. Nice thing about Zhuhai is that it's cheaper than the big three cities and it's close to Macau. On the other hand, it's boring as hell. But, you've a family to entertain you as we have. The singles were a bit lost for nice entertainment. The population is quite small, 1.4 million. So, a bit of a village. Macau is great. We called it Hong Kong lite. We did a lot of our shopping there, much more trustworthy than China as far as fake and tainted goods go. Also, imported groceries were cheaper. You just need a lot of pages in your passport if you go every week like we did.

Thanks for that info! We hadn't considered that area before, but like I said earlier, we're really flexible.

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I say go for it. Living in a non expat friendly area has its disadvantages and advantages. You'll learn a lot of Chinese is a short amount of time. Sure your lungs will hurt a little bit (due to pollution), but you can Google reputable doctors who build air purifiers and masks to guard you from the pollution. Google My health Beijing (he even has some assembled air sets which are cheap on the wallet). He'll even deliver to your location in China, but your address will need to be addressed in Chinese (you can ask me in a PM to translate it for you, or make a Chinese friend (you won't regret it =P )) Being cheap on the wallet is also another advantage: the cost of living in your location is quite low. Yes if you went to Shanghai the area would be more expat friendly, but you're also looking at double the cost of living.

Personally I'd rather live in a less expat friendly place, because I speak Chinese, and love Chinese culture etc.