International School at KL

Hi Zobo and welcome to Expat.com!

Hope that you'll get some tips soon.

Harmonie.

nexus international school at putra jaya or alice smith serdang

Thanks thanks

Zobo

Hello Zobo,

Here there are some others international school :
Mont Kiara international school : 032 093 8604
Garden's international school (Mont Kiara) : 016 209 68 88
Ecole Montessori (Ampang) : 012 378 88 79

Alexandra
follouwusinkl.canalblog.com]www.follouwusinkl.canalblog.com

Thanks Alexandra,

it seem too many school to choice from. Is hard, do you have any conman on each school?

many thanks

Zobo

Hi Zobo,
I guess the choice is not easy.
I heard that Alice Smith and Mont Kiara International School have a very good level.

Alexandra

Alexandra,

do you know which area are most of expat live in?

cheers
Zobo

Do be careful of "reputations" as one leading primary international has been ripping itself apart and some cruise on the past. Best bet is to visit the school and look at

- teachers: are they all expat/qualified? Or what %
- class sizes and level of personal attention given
- what is taught/school ethos
- how much are parents involved?
- have a "random" visit to see the school in action (obviously security depending just don't walk in)
- can you meet teachers/other parents?
- profit or non-profit
- are children actually learning or doing worksheets? What is the schools progression tracking systems like?
- is there sufficient sports facilities and staff?
- do children get plenty of creative and play time?

Hi Zobo,

To answer to your question, for an expat life style (in my opinion), Mont Kiara is a better area compare to Ampang. There are a lot of expat in Ampang too but in spite of the fact it's near of KLCC I don't think that it's a really a nice and convenient area, and first of all it's really crowded with trafic jam.

Cheers!

Alexandra

alexandra32 wrote:

Hi Zobo,

To answer to your question, for an expat life style (in my opinion), Mont Kiara is a better area compare to Ampang. There are a lot of expat in Ampang too but in spite of the fact it's near of KLCC I don't think that it's a really a nice and convenient area, and first of all it's really crowded with trafic jam.

Cheers!

Alexandra

And mont kiara isn't ????? It's awful for traffic and looks like Birmingham (concrete tower blocks) ampang is far nicer. However a little off original topic about schools! Mont kiara does gave GIS nearby so a plus point. Ampang has it's own schools of course

thank you guys, for me it seem traffic jam every where in KL!

cheers
Zoe

Nemodot wrote:

alexandra32 wrote:

Hi Zobo,

To answer to your question, for an expat life style (in my opinion), Mont Kiara is a better area compare to Ampang. There are a lot of expat in Ampang too but in spite of the fact it's near of KLCC I don't think that it's a really a nice and convenient area, and first of all it's really crowded with trafic jam.

Cheers!

Alexandra

And mont kiara isn't ????? It's awful for traffic and looks like Birmingham (concrete tower blocks) ampang is far nicer. However a little off original topic about schools! Mont kiara does gave GIS nearby so a plus point. Ampang has it's own schools of course

Hi Nemodot,

It's the reason why I wrote in my message "in my opinion", it's not THE opinion, just mine! And about Ampang, in the same way it's your opinion. It only depends about what people are looking for, there is not a right answer to this question.
And I didn't say that Mont Kiara was a nice place, don't get me wrong. Just it was nice for expat life cause there is a lot of activities around, once again, in my opinion.
And about the trafic I agree but personnaly I've never stucked one hour in Mont Kiara to go from here to another point, but it's often happen to me in Ampang, maybe it was just a bad day?!

Have a nice day!

Hi Zoe choosing schools comes down to personal preference, we visited many different school with varying price ranges as my husbands work do not pay our fees. I would visit them personally and get a feel for them.
Also in regards to Mont Kiara I have been living here for 7 months and love it. The peak hour traffic is at school drop off and pick up times but you get that around all schools. I arrive home from my children's school usually around 3.05pm which is right on peak time and it has never taken me more than 10 mins to do the crawl to home which is right next door to Mont kiara school.  The traffic surrounding Gardens International is 10 times worse. Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like help with anything. Good luck.

Thanks Kiwi,

I was think to move in Mont Kiara too, but Mont Kiara School seem have very long waiting list. I am going to send a application from in very soon don't know how long the waiting are.

Cheers
Zobo

All schools having very long waiting lists and will get worse as quotas just lifted for locals. Fees will prob go up as well

Hi we have had great experience with ISKL. Their elementary school is in Melawati and high school is in Ampang.  They have busses that pick children up from Mont Kiara area as well as Ampang area.  It is approx 20 mins drive to the Elementary school from Mont Kiara, there is a realatively new highway called the Duke which gets you to the other side of the city quite quickly.
I agree with some of the others, look at 2/3 schools first and then make your decision, lots of good international schools in KL.

Thanks Thanks

Nemodot wrote:

All schools having very long waiting lists and will get worse as quotas just lifted for locals. Fees will prob go up as well

Hello. I am extremely concerned about this (that quotas has been lifted for locals). So does this mean international schools could be almost 100% locals in the future?? How long prior to attending school must I register my child? Like 1 or 2 years before my child starts school? I am so worried about school fees going up too....

I had no problem getting my children a school place, but I think it all depends on what school you want them to go to. I would say yes get in early as possible with the school of your choice as quite a lot of the schools do have waiting lists but not as long as you probably think they are. I also very much doubt that international schools would all become 100% local, as there is quite a high cost involved for schooling and I'd say a lot of the local malaysian population simply couldn't afford the schooling fees if this indeed was the case.

As for the fees then personally I wouldn't overly worry about Nemodots comments, anyway you need to try and visit the schools you're interested in and then make your own choice.

I agree with whybirda alot of the locals would not be able to afford the school fees and there is such a huge expat population in KL. Expat kids need to attend a school somewhere so I think it will maintain a nice balance of both locals and expats.

dice wrote:

Nemodot wrote:

All schools having very long waiting lists and will get worse as quotas just lifted for locals. Fees will prob go up as well

Hello. I am extremely concerned about this (that quotas has been lifted for locals). So does this mean international schools could be almost 100% locals in the future?? How long prior to attending school must I register my child? Like 1 or 2 years before my child starts school? I am so worried about school fees going up too....

A lot of them are 90% and many will become almost 100% Malaysian.

I do honestly wonder if many expats actually mix here - locals have all the money and expats are generally poor in comparison to those of equal status - and loads of super rich ones and a growing strong upper middle business class (Chinese mostly) who can easilypay the 45k RM a year. Remember Malaysia has a third world income distibution with lots of very poor and some very well off.

A good Mamak restaurant pulld in 25-30k a month profit (cash so tax low). Schhol fees and costs say 4k a month for a middle range school. So a Mamak restaurant holder can easily send two children to an international school! Same for many businesses.

The DVD sellers around here drive 500k to 1 million RM mercs. You think they cannot afford 4k a month?

Thank you all for answering my concern.
I know the school fees are very expensive for most locals but on the other hand I think there could be many rich families who are willing to pay this amount. I read several discussions on this matter in the newspaper and got very worried.
I hope the international schools will maintain a nice balance...
I guess we have to see how things go for the time being for it has only been about a week since the quota has been lifted.

dice wrote:

Thank you all for answering my concern.
I know the school fees are very expensive for most locals but on the other hand I think there could be many rich families who are willing to pay this amount. I read several discussions on this matter in the newspaper and got very worried.
I hope the international schools will maintain a nice balance...
I guess we have to see how things go for the time being for it has only been about a week since the quota has been lifted.

Hi I can only think of 4-5 true international schools in KL. The rest are local private schos that teach in English and have a few expats (usually Asian expat) students. Previously there were various fiddles to get round quotas anyway so never a big issue.

Remember Malaysia is a country that sticks a merc badge on a kancil and everyone goes "look a merc". Then they sell the Kancil for 400,000 rm and plenty would buy. It's still however a tin can with wheels! Malaysia boleh

Hi there,

Yes, the international school at Desa Park City just officially opened the other day. I have been down there to check it out and it's all very new. It's been running since September last year already but only now they have officially opened.

There seems a good mix of expats and locals (probably 50/50 perhaps leaning slightly to 4-60), with most of the teachers being qualified expats. This was a big plus for me. That, and the fact that I don't have to get stuck in a jam everyday to drop off my kids.

This is their website, www.isp.edu.my. You can read all about it here.

Thanks for the info. I know they have the open day, but I couldn't flight in that week.
Most of the international school have non-refundable RM $20000 per child to start, I have 2 kids and my husband company are not paid for the schooling. I have a consider that too, special we may only stay for 2, 3 years.
Any suggest for the private school??

Many thanks
Zobo

Which private primary school have more expat child?
I have hear Fairview International school is not so good? is that true?

Many thanks
Zobo

Zobo wrote:

Thanks for the info. I know they have the open day, but I couldn't flight in that week.
Most of the international school have non-refundable RM $20000 per child to start, I have 2 kids and my husband company are not paid for the schooling. I have a consider that too, special we may only stay for 2, 3 years.
Any suggest for the private school??

Many thanks
Zobo

The deposits are refunded of course! In malaysia "international" school = private school (the other private schools are taught in Malay)

To be honest the first thing I say to any expats coming to Malaysia with children is "if you company isn't paying for the schooling then do you really want to work with cheap skate nasty penny pincking company like that?" However this is becoming the norm - but beware companies are cheating expats out of a lot of money this way.

In KL school fees for secondary are 40-70,000 RM per year per child (including the extras and these can really add up).

So two children at 40k each is 80k a year. Gross that up for tax and that is approx 9,000 RM a month of gross salary!

There are not many cheaper schools - and they are so bad I wouldn't even suggest them. Home schooling is one possibility but that means holding children back socially. Expats can't use local schools.

Primary fees are of course less - I don't know how much. I won't comment on individual schools as I work for one, however best to visit various schools in your price range, look at facilities and numbers of students, qualifications/experience of teachers and ask to talk to current parents. New schools don't have records of exam performance, although older schools do make lots of "adjustments" to performance figures (!)

May I know that is Mont'Kiara International School is a good school ? With various nationality? follow IB system? Thanks

Nematoth wrote:

Hi there,

Yes, the international school at Desa Park City just officially opened the other day. I have been down there to check it out and it's all very new. It's been running since September last year already but only now they have officially opened.

There seems a good mix of expats and locals (probably 50/50 perhaps leaning slightly to 4-60), with most of the teachers being qualified expats. This was a big plus for me. That, and the fact that I don't have to get stuck in a jam everyday to drop off my kids.

This is their website, www.isp.edu.my. You can read all about it here.

International School@ ParkCity is better or Mont'Kiara International School ? Both with  a good mix of expats and locals ? follow IB system or British one? Thanks

chysl99 wrote:

Nematoth wrote:

Hi there,

Yes, the international school at Desa Park City just officially opened the other day. I have been down there to check it out and it's all very new. It's been running since September last year already but only now they have officially opened.

There seems a good mix of expats and locals (probably 50/50 perhaps leaning slightly to 4-60), with most of the teachers being qualified expats. This was a big plus for me. That, and the fact that I don't have to get stuck in a jam everyday to drop off my kids.

This is their website, www.isp.edu.my.. You can read all about it here.

International School@ ParkCity is better or Mont'Kiara International School ? Both with  a good mix of expats and locals ? follow IB system or British one? Thanks

ISP has no exam track record, but lots of money to spend so nice facilities and lots of qualified expat teachers, but starting from primary and growing Secondary so suffers the usual problem that you get great primary/lower secondary teachers but suffer in that you can't recruit good teachers for upper secondary - as they want the challenge of older students and needed by teachers to move on. BIS had that problem although being rectified so I understand. A big mistake in my opinion to "grow" a school this way. you also have staffing issues as not enough students to ensure you have specialised teachers for tough subjects. You end up with "jack of all trades, master of none" types,. Great for year 7s and primary, not for year 10s wanting to go to Oxbridge/good universities.

MKIS is established, has a track record (some say not so great - make you own mind up). Both are second tier type schools but with first tier prices. Alice or Gardens are better value for money IMHO especially looking at results. Always a risk going for a new school. if under 12 years old that risk is a lot lower as focus is not on subject knowledge at those ages.

Nemodot wrote:

chysl99 wrote:

Nematoth wrote:

Hi there,

Yes, the international school at Desa Park City just officially opened the other day. I have been down there to check it out and it's all very new. It's been running since September last year already but only now they have officially opened.

There seems a good mix of expats and locals (probably 50/50 perhaps leaning slightly to 4-60), with most of the teachers being qualified expats. This was a big plus for me. That, and the fact that I don't have to get stuck in a jam everyday to drop off my kids.

This is their website, www.isp.edu.my. . You can read all about it here.

International School@ ParkCity is better or Mont'Kiara International School ? Both with  a good mix of expats and locals ? follow IB system or British one? Thanks

ISP has no exam track record, but lots of money to spend so nice facilities and lots of qualified expat teachers, but starting from primary and growing Secondary so suffers the usual problem that you get great primary/lower secondary teachers but suffer in that you can't recruit good teachers for upper secondary - as they want the challenge of older students and needed by teachers to move on. BIS had that problem although being rectified so I understand. A big mistake in my opinion to "grow" a school this way. you also have staffing issues as not enough students to ensure you have specialised teachers for tough subjects. You end up with "jack of all trades, master of none" types,. Great for year 7s and primary, not for year 10s wanting to go to Oxbridge/good universities.

MKIS is established, has a track record (some say not so great - make you own mind up). Both are second tier type schools but with first tier prices. Alice or Gardens are better value for money IMHO especially looking at results. Always a risk going for a new school. if under 12 years old that risk is a lot lower as focus is not on subject knowledge at those ages.

Dear Nemodot, thanks a lot for your detailed reply. I just searched from websites and noticed that Alice's campus is a bit old, right? While for Garden, the school fee is quite expensive. What should I do? Can you suggest one more which with better facilities and sch fee more or less the same as ISP? Many thanks! ^3^

P.S. what is IMHO stands for?

Nemodot wrote:

chysl99 wrote:

Nematoth wrote:

Hi there,

Yes, the international school at Desa Park City just officially opened the other day. I have been down there to check it out and it's all very new. It's been running since September last year already but only now they have officially opened.

There seems a good mix of expats and locals (probably 50/50 perhaps leaning slightly to 4-60), with most of the teachers being qualified expats. This was a big plus for me. That, and the fact that I don't have to get stuck in a jam everyday to drop off my kids.

This is their website, [link under review]. You can read all about it here.

International School@ ParkCity is better or Mont'Kiara International School ? Both with  a good mix of expats and locals ? follow IB system or British one? Thanks

ISP has no exam track record, but lots of money to spend so nice facilities and lots of qualified expat teachers, but starting from primary and growing Secondary so suffers the usual problem that you get great primary/lower secondary teachers but suffer in that you can't recruit good teachers for upper secondary - as they want the challenge of older students and needed by teachers to move on. BIS had that problem although being rectified so I understand. A big mistake in my opinion to "grow" a school this way. you also have staffing issues as not enough students to ensure you have specialised teachers for tough subjects. You end up with "jack of all trades, master of none" types,. Great for year 7s and primary, not for year 10s wanting to go to Oxbridge/good universities.

MKIS is established, has a track record (some say not so great - make you own mind up). Both are second tier type schools but with first tier prices. Alice or Gardens are better value for money IMHO especially looking at results. Always a risk going for a new school. if under 12 years old that risk is a lot lower as focus is not on subject knowledge at those ages.

Is Alice a first tier type of schools in KL? Thanks

Alice, Gardens and ISKL (plus Australian and the other country specific ones) are the established schools in KL. Not saying anything about quality etc, but been around a long time, are established and well known. MKIS depends who you ask. Then you get newer ones or those that many argue about, from the British International School to ISP.

None are cheap. ISKL is the only top ten school in Asia (based on reputation) but look at the fees. After that most people would rank Alice and GIS next. Alice is very selective academically and so in a way is GIS. If you have a long waiting lists you "select" the best students/parents. So bound to get better results. Alice is not for profit, but GIS is for profit and pressure to make more money. Quality in education is so hard to measure. None really stand out apart from ISKL as world class. With the fees many Malaysian parents send their kids to UK top boarding schools that are better value!

IMHO = in my honest opinion

Nemodot wrote:

Alice, Gardens and ISKL (plus Australian and the other country specific ones) are the established schools in KL. Not saying anything about quality etc, but been around a long time, are established and well known. MKIS depends who you ask. Then you get newer ones or those that many argue about, from the British International School to ISP.

None are cheap. ISKL is the only top ten school in Asia (based on reputation) but look at the fees. After that most people would rank Alice and GIS next. Alice is very selective academically and so in a way is GIS. If you have a long waiting lists you "select" the best students/parents. So bound to get better results. Alice is not for profit, but GIS is for profit and pressure to make more money. Quality in education is so hard to measure. None really stand out apart from ISKL as world class. With the fees many Malaysian parents send their kids to UK top boarding schools that are better value!

IMHO = in my honest opinion

Nemodot, you are so nice! Thanks for your sharing. It really helps!

what about British International school?

New buildings normally means, new school. And there are lots springing up because its a lucrative sector to be in for everyone except the parents. I think HELP is one of the newest.

http://schooladvisor.my/?p=internationa … nal-school

There are some schools that don't grab the headlines and limelight that are excellent as well as the well known ones. My only complaint is that some of the international schools turn out spoilt, precocious little brats. The peer pressure is very high (also about material possessions and parent's wealth), even at the primary level, so take that into consideration when choosing a school.

You can check out Sri Utama International School at Setapak.
sriutama.edu.my/
I heard the quality of this school is pretty good

Just be careful about getting to know how many of the teachers are professionally qualified to teach and the likely standard of English, based on the number of English mother-tongue teachers. British teachers working in some of the schools have reported surprise at the number of unqualified staff in the Malaysian fee-paying school system.