Comparing the Schools and Comments
Comparing the Schools and Comments: Working in Myanmar
March 12, 2023
Around the world, there are countries (like Myanmar) that have more than one international school. Many times there is an American school, a British School, and an international school that uses an international curriculum.
The big question always is…how do the comments about each school compare to each other?
This blog series looks at comparing some of these comments, all coming from international schools in the same country.
Myanmar
Currently, we have 15 schools listed in Myanmar on International School Community.
6 of these schools have had comments submitted on them:
Ayeyarwaddy International School (66 Total Comments)
International School of Myanmar (23 Total Comments)
Myanmar International School Yangon (33 Total Comments)
The International School Yangon (17 Total Comments)
Total Learning Academy (9 Total Comments)
Yangon International School (81 Total Comments)
Amount of Money Left to be Saved
“Single- 30, 000. Couple- 60, 000…” – The International School Yangon
“Most people will save more than half their salary. You have to be trying hard to spend your money. Keep it for traveling…” – Myanmar International School Yangon
“It depends on your lifestyle, but most people can save between 50-80% of their salary, easily…” – Ayeyarwaddy International School
School Campus
“The surrounding area of the campus is quite suburban. There are grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance of the campus…” – The International School Yangon
“The building is not for purpose. With the school role rising, pupils are being stuffed into classes not big enough to accommodate them. Primary especially are struggling. The area around the school is not really adequate for play or PE. Outside the grounds has roaming dogs and an ever-accumulating number of car wrecks in various stages of being dismantled. The teachers are overworked, it has got worse in the past two years. While appreciating the need for setting standards, the overloaded teachers are burning out. Staff are generally great, friendly and helpful. There will be another big turnover this year. Many teachers are completing contracts and getting out. Others were forced into signing 2-year contracts even though they had been on 1 year contracts for a few years. In saying that, the contacts are not worth anything. Major changes made by the management last year means that they are invalid. Students are nice, salaries are on time, housing allowance is decent…” – Myanmar International School Yangon
“There is a small pool and some playground equipment for the younger kids…” – Ayeyarwaddy International School
Housing Information
“Housing is provided by the school, which comes fully furnished, and all utilities are included and paid for…” – International School of Myanmar
“Teachers are living in either a shared house or in some cases apartment-style living closest to the branch you will be working at…” – Total Learning AcademyC
“Utilities are included in your benefits. All the housing comes furnished…” – The International School Yangon
Benefits for Teachers with Children
“Non-trailing spouses can be an issue. Visas have been much easier to get than in previous years but the application process is not smooth compared to other countries. A shorter visa is often granted before a 1 year visa is issued. Not a big deal but it can be an inconvenience to have to deal with the Myanmar Embassy for a spouse. The school will need to sponsor the spouse in most cases…” – Yangon International School
“100% free tuition for 1 child…” – International School of Myanmar
“Free tuition for up to 2 children…” – Myanmar International School Yangon
Are the Expectations High of Teaching Staff?
“Workload is increasing. school hours have changed as well. 0800 – 1600
Classes in Primary finish 1445 and secondary 1500. The additional after-school time will be taken up with 2 after-school activities and meetings…” – Myanmar International School Yangon
“The workload is very reasonable. Foreign staff is never given breakfast or lunch duty, and the after-school activity is only required once per week…” – Ayeyarwaddy International School
“The expectations of teachers is that students are learning and doing well in class. There are very few demands outside of the classroom. In the elementary school, each teacher is required to do one after-school activity for a 9-week period…” – Yangon International School
(These are just 5 of the 66 different comments topics that are on each school profile page on our website.)
If you work at an international school in Myanmar, share what you know. Consider becoming a Mayor for unlimited free premium membership!
continue readingComparing the Schools and Comments
Comparing the Schools and Comments: Working in Kuwait
May 9, 2022
Around the world, there are countries (like Kuwait) that have more than one international school. Many times there is an American school, a British School, and an international school that uses an international curriculum.
The big question always is…how do the comments about each school compare to each other?
This blog series looks at comparing some of these comments, all coming from international schools in the same country.
Kuwait
Currently, we have 26 schools listed in Kuwait on International School Community.
17 of these schools have had comments submitted on them. Here are some that have the most submitted comments:
American International School Kuwait (74 Total Comments)
Cambridge English School Mangaf (41 Total Comments)
Ajial Bilingual School (27 Total Comments)
Al Bayan Bilingual School (30 Total Comments)
American Creativity Academy (31 Total Comments)
American School of Kuwait (51 Total Comments)
Dasman Bilingual School (24 Total Comments)
The Universal American School (22 Total Comments)
Amount of Money Left to be Saved
“Teachers can save 15% of their salary on average and you could definitely support a non-teaching spouse on this salary…” – The Universal American School
“Saving money here is doable if you are conservative. Many staff tutor which almost doubles their income. I know of many staff that tutor enough for their travel and cost of living so they bank near all of their salary. As a single provider with a family tutoring would be a must to save…” – American Creativity Academy
“I can save around 1000 to 1500 USD each month. Kuwait can be an expensive country, but because the dinar is strong (it’s the strongest currency in the world), it doesn’t fluctuate much at all when compared with the dollar…” – Al Bayan Bilingual School
School Campus
“The school is in a new state-of-the art purpose-built building; with a multi-level cinema with a capacity of 80 seats, 2 floors theater of 400 seats, 2 swimming pools, 4 science labs, 4 computer labs, 2 basketball courts, 4 libraries & a 3 cafeterias…” – Ajial Bilingual School
“The school is now in a new building with new equipment and furniture, rooftop playground for seniors and two play areas for Early Years providing climbing equipment, bicycles and imaginative play area…” – Cambridge English School Mangaf
“The school relocated from Surra to its present location in Salmiya, Kuwait City in 1995. The campus, sheltered by a brick wall from the wind and weather, has middle and high school buildings that open onto an interior court in the Arabic style and three elementary buildings that surround an open play area. A 1200 seat auditorium, an indoor gymnasium and a sheltered outdoor gymnasium form another part of the complex. The roof of these structures holds a third story soccer field and running track…” – American International School Kuwait
Housing Information
“Staff housing has very basic furnishing. Nice places though. Need to pay the caretaker 5KWD a month for services. No utilities to pay…” – American International School Kuwait
“Shared accommodation for teachers or a housing allowance. Management have single accommodation. Utilities paid for except gas which is very cheap. There is internet but poor connection so most teachers provide their own…” – Cambridge English School Mangaf
“Foreign hires get single furnished apartments that are well-equipped and very nice…” – Ajial Bilingual School
Benefits for Teachers with Children
“Shameful that an expatriate would have to pay 50% for their child to attend a school where they would be the only non Arab and only English speaker. That 50% means you would still pay about 6000 US…” – American Creativity Academy
“One dependent’s tuition is paid for each contracted teacher…” – American School of Kuwait
“Your first child gets free tuition and the 2nd gets 50% off…” – Dasman Bilingual School
Are the Expectations High of Teaching Staff?
“Teachers without IB experience may find their workload higher than usual until they adjust. Teachers are usually expected to participate in and/or lead extra curricular activities, one day per week…” – American International School Kuwait
“Most staff are there for the money and don’t have high expectations. They arrive as late as possible and leave on the dot…” – Cambridge English School Mangaf
“When I worked there, core subject secondary teachers taught an average of four 45-minute periods per day, with occasional subbing duties. All teachers were required to supervise one after-school extra curricular club or activity for six weeks per year…” –Ajial Bilingual School
(These are just 5 of the 66 different comments topics that are on each school profile page on our website.)
If you work at an international school in Kuwait, share what you know. Consider becoming a Mayor for unlimited free premium membership!
continue readingVideo Highlight
Video Highlight: American Creativity Academy (An international school in Hawalli, Kuwait)
May 28, 2013
There are many international schools to work at in Kuwait! How do these schools stand out from each other?
American Creativity Academy (in Hawalli)
We put two videos in this video highlight, as the concept for these videos was part of a project that the students at this school were given…we imagine. (A third one can be found here.)
It is a great idea; a challenge project for IB/High School students to create a marketing video for the school. There is not really a more appropriate stakeholder at the school to make a project like this. The students’ perspective about the school they are attending is probably one to listen to with regards to thinking about school identity and school improvement.
The kids look a bit nervous in the videos!
The sports fields look on the newer side. You can see the shadow cast over that one place for soccer as it most likely gets very hot during the day when students would be playing there.
The lovely blue colour of the sides of the buildings seems to make it stand out, in good way.
How nice that they have a canteen in the auditorium/multi-purpose room. Not all international schools have that!
The ending of one of those videos is very funny with some students helping another student slide down the hall.
Did not see many of the other teachers and students of this school of 2650 students…they must have filmed after school hours.
Currently on www.internationalschoolcommunity.com we have 19 international schools listed in Kuwait with 5 of them being in the city of Hawalli. Here are a just a few of them (The number of comments and information that have been submitted for each school is listed to the right of the link to each school.):
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If you know about what it is like working at one of these international schools in Kuwait, log-on today and submit your own comments and information. For every 10 comments you submit, you will receive 1 month of premium access to International School Community for free!
continue readingHighlighted Year for Int’l Schools
International schools that were founded in 1988 (Budapest, Johor, Berne, Bordeaux, Hanoi, Rome, etc.)
December 25, 2011
Random year for international schools around the world: 1988
Utilizing the database of the 1018 international schools currently listed on International School Community, we found 10 international schools that were founded in 1988 (excepts about their founding are taken from the schools’ websites):
Koc International School (Istanbul, Turkey)
“Founded in 1988 by the Vehbi Koç Foundation, the Koç School has quickly become one of Turkey’s most selective and competitive university preparatory schools. It attracts an outstanding academic staff of Turkish and foreign teachers, and students who score at the highest levels of entrance examinations. Koç School seeks to be a leader and a pioneer in Turkish education and to set standards for other schools to follow.”
Bordeaux International School (Bordeaux, France)
“Bordeaux International School, also known as BIS, is a private (fee-paying) international school for ages 3–18 located in Bordeaux, France, established in 1988 by the non-profit making Association Linguistique et Culturelle Internationale. Students are from both France and other countries. The medium of instruction is English and French in the primary streams and mainly English in the secondary school. The school moved to new premises in rue Judaïque in August 2005.”
British School Bern (Berne, Switzerland)
“The British School of Bern is an English-speaking, International day school established in 1988. It is for pupils of all nationalities from the ages of three to twelve years. It is an independent, nonprofit day school located in Gumlingen, a suburb of Bern. The school provides a modern British curriculum. The teaching allows each child to develop to his/her particular need through both same-age and cross-age groupings.”
International School of Budapest (Budapest, Hungary)
International School of Johor (Johor, Malaysia)
United Nations International School (Vietnam) (Hanoi, Vietnam)
“The United Nations International School of Hanoi is an international school in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1988 with the support of the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam (UNDP) with the aim of providing an education to the children of UN staff and others. It now caters to the children of diplomats, aid workers, businessman, and other expatriates living and working in Hanoi. Classes range from pre-school to high school, and the IB Diploma is available to students in grade 11 and 12.”
Rome International School (Rome, Italy)
“RIS opened its doors to its first elementary school students in September 1988. We offer an international education to children aged 2 to 18. The Middle School opened in September 2001 and the High School in 2007. The school is located in a fully equipped campus comprised of classrooms, ample sports facilities, science labs, music rooms, libraries and computer labs, next to several acres of a public park, Villa Ada.The location is well connected by public transport.”
Khalifa School (Safat, Kuwait)
“Khalifa School, founded in 1988, is recognized as the first private educational institution for special needs students in Kuwait. Motivated by her grandson, Khalifa, Mrs. Lulwa Khalifa Alghanim established Khalifa School with the vision of providing equal opportunities for special needs students. The school combines the latest teaching methods and state of the art technology to provide appropriate educational opportunities for the students. The school is located in the capital area of Kuwait and is accessible from all locations of the country.”
German-American International School (Menlo Park, California, United States)
“The concept of a German-American School in the Bay Area in order to promote the German language and culture started in May 1980, with an ad-hoc committee under the leadership of Dr. Liedkte, Professor of German at the San Francisco State University. He was assisted by a group of dedicated parents and Mr. Rothmann, the German consul at that time and the Swiss consul, Mr. Frey. The result of many years of dedicated work, the German American School (GAS) was created by a small group of parents wanting to provide a good bilingual education for their children.”
Adana Gundogdu College (Adana, Turkey)
“Adana Gündogdu College was founded in 1988 by Mr. Yunus Gündogdu. It started with 88 students and now there are approximate 2000 students. Our school is located in Adana, which is located in southern Turkey. Adana is the city in the south of Turkey and has a university and several colleges. We have many attractions, a lake and not far from the center is the ocean. Our school includes a kindergarten, an elementary school and one comprehensive school.”
Check out the rest of the more than 1018 international schools listed on International School Community here.
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