The International Schools Review Forum

What's my criteria? Family oriented, in and out of school, able to live comfortably (4 bed house with garden), go away on a few weekends / holidays and stay in four star-ish places plus save US$30,000+ a year (we're a teaching couple). Also decent international healthcare and free flights and schooling for the kids.

What schools could I add?

4 Bedroom house with a garden?!

Come on, man.

Why not, that's what we have now. In fact, that would be quite a high priority. I doubt if we would consider moving somewhere if we couldn't live in a house. We're done with apartment living.

You didnt list any ISs to begin with. Id stay where you are, the elite tier IS in KL might maybe get you close to that but not in and out, they own you.
I concur with @senator not a 4BR house/w garden, apartment (w/balcony and joint garden space maybe) but not a house, not unless youre in leadership on an extended contract.

Your expectations are very unrealistic except for positions at a handful of top schools. A VERY small handful.

No school in KL, to my knowledge, comes close to what you want, except maybe the savings potential due to the EPF - still a stretch due to your kids and desire to travel.

And your need to be "in and out of school" would cross out any of those few schools.

Are you new to the world of recent international education? I can't think of any other reason for you to be so naive.

Stay where you are.

Did you mean that the school would be family oriented both in and out of school? (not that you could nip in and out of school?)

If so, I don't live in Malaysia, but I work at a school that would definitely meet your requirements.

You do seem to be asking for rather a lot. If you have all of that, stay where you are.

Shadylane, yes I meant family oriented in and outside of school.

Senator, this is out third international, all in what most would call lower tier 2 schools. We've had houses in two of those countries.

I'm in Malaysia now...maybe two schools that MIGHT come close....ISKL or Alice Smith...neither of those schools have housing that you're looking for nearby...you'd need to commute. The EPF in Malaysia helps you save...but you don't get the money until you leave the country.

And the country's financial political mess suggests it's just a matter of time before the epf either collapses or is legislated to cut out foreigners. Don't count on getting that money back.

Concur with @twoteachers, ISKL and Alice are going to come the closest and thats a big if, and I dont see it happening unless you are in leadership. Agree with @Sid the EPF is probably going to bottom out if not outright burst, its only a matter of time, as they politically dont seem to have the will to address the solvency of the fund.

You could easily save that at ISKL as long as you have a Masters and 10+ years. We used to work there and saved a salary (plus EPF) each year. So around 40-50,000 USD + EPF but that was a few years ago when the ringgit was stronger. You could get a 4 bedroom house in Ampang and travel quite a bit as well.

Thanks for the answers. So how much would a reasonable net salary be for a classroom teacher with, let's say, 10 years experience? Would there be a housing allowance on top? How much EPF would the school pay over and above that? I'm probably thinking more about decent tier 2 schools rather than ISKL.

I'm surprised there are only two schools that this would be possible. We live in a country with a border with Malaysia. In the great gamut of international schools in this country ours is probably considered to be poorly paid or average at best. Yet as a teaching couple, we have a nice four bedroom house, have a full time housekeeper, we go away most holidays (mostly 3 star/airbnb rather than 4 star) and save about $2000 a month. I did a Numbeo comparison check comparing where we live with Putrajaya (we live outside the city, so Putrajaya seemed more applicable) and Putrajaya is 20% cheaper overall. The rent in Putrajaya appears to be 50% lower than where we live, and we consider the rent here to be pretty reasonable. I can't quite figure out why what I've specified is not achievable, unless salaries are crushingly low outside the top two or three schools.

Thoughts?

PsyGuy wrote:
> You didn't list any ISs to begin with.

Actually I did, but those names have been removed and the title of my thread has been changed.

@Helen Back

Thank you for the clarification.
ISKL and Alice would be about it. At tier 2 your looking at upper $30s in salary. Yes youd get a housing allowance, but your really only going to find those salaries in KL and housing in KL is expensive its not SG expensive but its not like they are giving it away either (and its a lot closer to SG than farther), and thats really the issue with your 4LDK + garden house, its the expense of property in KL.