The International Schools Review Forum

Hi out there. I've accepted a position with Saigon South International School in Vietnam. I'm not really getting cold feet, but am wondering why so many teachers left this year. I'm excited about living in Vietnam, but get anxious because of that high turn over. I heard from an email contact at the school that almost the entire middle school left???? Anybody out there know anything? I know of course that there will be all new admin save the ES principal. I'll be in the ms/hs side. Thank you.

What vacancy did you apply for? I checked the comments in the ISR reviews which seem very interesting.

i had a friend who taught there for the last three years. i visited the school. the facilities were nice. it felt like a real school back in the states. her housing was also good. she left for another position and never mentioned anything bad about the school.

For starters, the middle and high school principal was a man who was not respected and his wife who does not have an education degree is the middle and high school admissions coordinator. She makes questionable decisions as to who is admitted to the school, what grade they should be in and if they need ESL classes. While her husband has just retired, unfortunately she will still be working at the school. We all suspect it is for the health insurance! Beware, the former Head of School was not an educator and had/has another agenda. There are several unlicensed teachers at this school, both in the elementary and middle/high school. The elementary school principal Mary Lower tends to be a "mother" to the Vietnamese staff and plays favorites with the foreign hires. She likes to "buy" her friendships and socializes with the staff in an unprofessional manner. Her husband comes once a year to visit and is regarded as a "pervert". In addition, the teachers are all on different benefit packages. The elementary ESL teacher (who is past retirement age) lives in an expensive service department that the school pays for while other teachers and administrators are refused the same benefit!!!!!!! Even the elementary principal has less benefits than the elementary ESL teacher because the ESL teachers housing allowance is thousands of dollars per month!!!!!!!!! Why the administration continues to pay for this benefit when other teachers benefits are not nearly equal is not understood. It speaks to the administration of the school and to the board. Parents pay a lot of money to send their children to this school and it begs the question of why the school continues to pay thousands of dollars per month for one teacher who is past retirement age and whose skills and teacher license are out of date, to continue to receive this benefit when her contract is renewed on a yearly basis.

Good luck at the school. Saigon is an interesting place to live and there are many travel opportunities.

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OK, thanks for the insights. I was able to read the ISR reviews and they are so wildly different I'm not sure what to think. Seems like a couple admin postings and a "disgruntled employee" posting.... I'm curious about the high turn over rate. I guess that's probably to be expected at a youngish school in a rapidly developing country. Was the former principal really that bad? It's great to hear they're getting a qualified and experienced head of school in place. Thanks again.