The International Schools Review Forum

Hi.

I wondered if anyone could give me any recent reports on the International School HCMC?

I know the school was bought last year by Cognita and they have have now just finished some major additions to upgrade/expand the school facilities, so that seems very good. Seemed to be floundering before.

Also I saw this thread, which may be about IS given it seems there are only 2 schools doing MYP in Vietnam. Anyone know?

http://www.internationalschoolsreview.c ... php?t=1322

How are the YPY, MYP and DP programs at this school? Is there huge turnover and thus a mess? Or just the MYP is a problem? Or same as elsewhere but some simply don't like that system?

I'm wondering if the school has the money and staff to do the system well. I noticed the scores on Math/Science were lower, do these scores look poor? http://www.ishcmc.com/Curriculum/High_S ... sults.html

BIS HCMC: does anyone have recent info on this school?

They do IGCSE then IB DP. They are on a business franchise expansion binge so not sure how academically fixated (or stretched) they are, as opposed to a single institution like IS HCMC. Not sure how their students are fairing academically. Any first-hand thoughts?

Not really, was hoping to hear from someone who worked at either place and actually knows something.

ISHCMC? I.B. madhouse in a hard ass city, recently acquired by new owners. Move it down your list and check again 12 months from now.

ISHCMC just got taken over by Cognita. Here are two of the first things to go, (which I imagine will become a bit of a problem in the near and distant future):

1. Housing slashed dramatically - teachers lived on a very nice compound on the river. Really very pleasant...gone.

2. Any sort of rigorous entrance requirements...gone. They were pretty good about only accepting students with more than just a year or two of ELS; that is not the case at the moment.

BIS is a decent school which continues to have the best reputation. I'm pretty close with their deputy head and he loves the place. Their IB scores continue to improve. If you are not British or Commonwealth, probably impossible to land a job.

Saigon is not a hard ass city.

Thanks for the insight.

Does BIS have a nice housing compound in comparison? Or they both offer similar allowances?

[quote="calciodirigore"]
2. Any sort of rigorous entrance requirements...gone. They were pretty good about only accepting students with more than just a year or two of ELS; that is not the case at the moment.

BIS is a decent school which continues to have the best reputation. I'm pretty close with their deputy head and he loves the place.[/quote]

I heard the opposite. As I am given to understand it, BIS ignored VN law for years against admitting Vietnamese and has no fixed percentages so is almost entirely Vietnamese now at lower levels, thus much much worse on that score vs ISHCMC (and others?) which only just began admitting VN when the law changed but still only allows a small percentage of each nationality in any 1 class.

Also I'm told BIS seems to have gained the best rep amongst nouveau riche Vietnamese who have flooded in but that has subsequently put off foreigners and VN who are unhappy with the prices and want a more international atmosphere. Not sure where they are going though.

Thanks again.

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SSIS just completed a WASC review in March 2011 and was given great reviews. There are three divisional buildings on a large 6 hectare campus. The news being HS which opened in Jan. 2011.

The salary and benefits package for teachers is very competitive for Vietnam. Nationality caps (20%) are in place to ensure diversity of the student population and all students must pass the admission screen in order to gain entrance.

Q7 has become a very desirable area for expats to live, quite a bit calmer than the rest of HCMC.