International schools in Vientiane.?

Charlie, I have to say that I agree with Somsavath. The IGCSE and A/AS level courses as taught in Panyathip and Kiettisack, are strict in their use of correct grammar. You also need a teaching qualification or a degree in education to get a job at  these places.

cool to know they're adopting first world countries' standards

Charlie, do you have a degree in English as well as a teaching qualification? Else you cannot get a job here teaching English in an International school.

For those who are looking for schools in Vientiane check out this website
 
   www.jclao.com/english-schools-in-vientiane/

Yes I have had experience at the Australian International school in Vientiane Laos. Unfortunately I have rather extensive knowledge about the school. I am an award winning former Principal from Australia and this place insults the word school.

What is "an award winning former Principal from Australia?"

nomadxx wrote:

Yes I have had experience at the Australian International school in Vientiane Laos. Unfortunately I have rather extensive knowledge about the school. I am an award winning former Principal from Australia and this place insults the word school.

Could you please elaborate on your post and tell us what you know. I am sure other members of this forum would like to know too. 
Did you teach at AIS ??

Someone who has won both Local and International Awards or his work in Education and Innovation..  The latest being " Best Educational Cartoon Series in Hong Kong" youtube " Ming the Minibus"

The full list is long but if you send me an email I can send you my CV that is totally accurate and includeds Governors Awards for Innovation.  Principal and Teacher Awards. Australian Scuba Diver of the Year. Epals Exemplary teacher awards. Childnet Intetnational etc etc

At my recent schopl they hired a Vietnamese teacher with Masters Degrees from the Sorbonne pin Paris. A masters degree from Cambridge University and a Masters Degree from Manchester University. He was hired by the Director but Vice Director was a little suspicious and due to connections I have asked if I could check on them.
What was discoveted was all three masters were faked. The guy had a history of assaulting a student at another Vientiane School.
He has also referred to Western teachers as " whiteys". Two teachers who objected were teminated because of his actions. He has two years teaching experience but assesses teachets by looking through their windows. I confronted the Director over this and the next day CCTV cameras installed in all secondary classes.
Parents of students at the school are seeing show pony education and exagerated claims.

Actual learning has  a very low priority and mostly Filpino teachers are underpaid and overworked but only complain in private as they fear losing their jobs.
 
One Filpino teacher is now on 33 periods per week as school did not replace its ICT teacher just farmed out the work to another teacher.

The Chinese teacher who was a great teacher and loved by kids quit because of cmomments made about her teaching by Vietnamese fraud with 3 fake degrees.

I am presently checking libel and slander laws in the country as well as other issues that may affect me personally but I will give this forum the whole story within a  week and it is not about spite or revenge as I am not a dacked disgruntled employee.
However I need to check what sacked employees have told me as only when it is independently verified can I post it.  What you read next week will leave you with a true account of the situation in one of the intetnational schools here but you probably wont believe it....im finding it difficult to believe it......please forgive typos as i can see them but edit function wont work

After being Laos off and on over 40+ years nothing fazes me anymore. 

I look forward to your next post.

I still dont think you will believe what I write as I am having trouble myself believing that it happened. Defies all logic and common sense.

I happen to know the teacher that you are talking about. I know exactly why this teacher left his last school and it was not because he assaulted a student. It was because of an issue regarding after school tuition. "He has two years teaching experience." No, he has more. Please note that I am not defending him in any way or form, far from it, however you should really ensure that your facts are 100% accurate before posting.
By the way, the D. principal of the school is a great guy and really does try his best.

"Someone who has won both Local and International Awards or his work in Education and Innovation..  The latest being " Best Educational Cartoon Series in Hong Kong" youtube " Ming the Minibus". This in itself does not make you a great principal, sorry. I am not knocking you, but you would be amazed at how many excellent teachers there are around. It really is amazing when you consider the low salaries that are being paid. Not all are good of course, but I can honestly say that I know of many whom I would be happy to recommend for any teaching position in any western school.

Hi
I agree totally and said I will only post names and .schools when I have verified the facts. My information at the moment  comes from people from his previous school and my  own experience with him at  my present school.
I only work in Lao to contribute to the school as I am in the fortunate positionvof not needing to work.

As  Principal in Australia I was often posted by the Education Department into inner city schools that the Department labeled as "hard to staff " or " failing schools". I was able to turn these schools around to successful schools.

There is no magic formula for this except that you treat your staff with respect, treat them as professionals , dont waste their time on meaningless tasks and involve them in decision making.
This does not happen at the school I am at.

Also I thank you for the info regarding the reason this person left his previous position as I will not use school names or peoples names until I verify everything. However my information came from a previous teacher and a student and involved an arm grabbing incident. I tend to believe it is true as a similar incident occured atvthis school. That I can verify.

Again I thank you for the clarification

Hi Nomadxx. I know the assault comment is not correct. If someone is telling you otherwise, they are trying to make mischief.

Hi ....I understand that everything needs to be verified and people have grudges. I will ensure that anything I write can be backed up will not contain any allegations or rumour.

   Its a pity this website does not have the facility to send private messages or I would be able to explain why I will only comment on what
I know and what I have seen or experienced.   My post next week will involve no rumour or hearsay.

@nomadxx

To activate your PM system you first have to make a certain number of posts which have to be informative and topical. This is done by admin to ensure the forum is not inundated with spammers and unsavory types who often frequent forums. 

I suggest that you also read the terms and conditions of the forum which you can find at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for the information. Seems like a reasonable requirement.

So nomad, we are waiting.

Hi
The person that we are refering to was fired from his position on Friday for slapping a female student

The problem that existed has ben rectified and I have resigned.

That's Lucky or unlucky so to say. Still curious to hear the whole story and also your role in the school. What do/did you teach? Might I suggest you get in touch with the Deputy Director at KIS2 near VIS? He needs staff for next year.

Thanks for the info. I arrived here to teach English. Ended up teaching history and geography. I was recently at VIS visiting Greg Smith. We were once members of the same Australian Principals Association and have a number of mutual friends.
I have been offered a number of positions in Vientiane but am not chasing a job at the moment. I am in the envious position of not needing a job. I am going off to do what I enjoy most. Wandering aimlessly around the world.
When our friend started telling other teachers I was behind a student petition to get rid of him I demanded a written apology as everyone at the shool was aware that it was my intervention that stopped it from happening.
I finally got the written apology but had also informed the Aust Embassy that I believed that once I left the student behind the petition could be victimised by our friend. The following day he was fired for striking a student.

Well that thread fizzled out quickly.

Hello all,

I am a long time resident in Laos already. As my oldest child will start with school this year, I did some research about the bilingual or "international" schools in Vientiane.

One of them was the AIS and what looks odd to me, is the fact that they do claim to use the NSW curriculum/syllabus with an outdated letter of an former Australian ambassador. Is that the way it works?

Are they even registered for that syllabus in Australia? I cannot find any info regarding a registration info of "AIS" at the relevant NSW government education database / BOSTES facilities.
Beside that, who will certify the passed exams? The school? Or the certification body out of NSW?

I am wondering about the procedure here, as I have learned that e.g. Phanyatip school will teach regarding the Cambridge programme, the important exams to achieve the certification are done via CIE (external).

Thanks a lot for your input.

Best

Hi, not sure what you mean by "is this how it works". AIS was given permission to use the curriculum used in NSW. Having said this, this is a somewhat meaningless statement as Australian curricula have been updated and changed. Using a certain curriculum as a "base" is a good idea as it gives you something with which to work and on which to build.  "who will certify the passed exams?" The school.
When you get to years 9 and 10, there are 2 international curricula - the IB, which is offered by VIS and the IGCSE which is offered by Panyathip and by KIS. At years 11 and 12 you have the IB at VIS and the A and AS levels at KIS. Panyathip does not offer the A and AS levels and in fact still teaches the IGCSE at year 11. It is the IB and A and AS levels which will get you into a decent university. Mind you, neither of these is easy.
Both the IB and the Cambridge exams are set and marked externally. The procedure under which the exams are conducted is strictly controlled by Cambridge International Exams, CIE.
As your child is just starting school, the offering of the IB or the IGCSE is of no relevance to you at the moment. You can always go to any of the schools and ask what is taught. With the exception of VIS, which teaches the PYP, (primary year programme, which incidentally I really dislike), the curricula at Panyathip, AIS and KIS will be reasonably similar. To make an informed decision go to the schools, speak to the director or deputy director, ask about staff qualifications and experience, ask about staff turnover, look at the facilities and then decide.
Oscar is another school you should look at. Also I believe that KIS is going to build a new campus in the next 2 years, so you might want to ask about that as well.

Thanks,
your info regarding PIS is not totally up-2-date, but anyway, well appreciated.

The NSW system got the same criteria. If a NSW registered school (analog IB or IGSCE) wants to certify the grade to the pupil, they will need to set the final exams externally. Therefore I am pretty sure that AIS isn't officially registered. They might use the (public available) NSW curricula without the proper examination. In the end this is more or less "worthless" - at least for direct educational follow up.

My information on PIS is up to date! In what way do you think it isn't?

Obviously not. (Hint: AS level)

Without being rude, I suggest you check your facts on this. (hint - how many students are enrolled for the AS levels in the June exams?)

Dear without being rude as well,  I suggest you to check facts before releasing wrong information.
They are just starting up with it, so no students can be enrolled right now. If you don't like my info and insist on knowing it better, why not checking with them?

So they do not offer AS levels. Thank you for your clarification and your agreement with my post.

Who told you that? Please share with the community. Very interesting information. That will conclude to wrong issued print materials and web information for the school year 2015, including their admission documentation.

Please let us know whom you've contacted. Beside that it would imply a lie of the dean and vice dean towards myself.

Information which might be very interesting for Dr. Phankham.

So, pls. share...

You are attempting to play a game of semantics with Somsavath that you cannot win. I agree with her statements above.

From the PIS website:
In Years 9 – 11, students begin to study Cambridge's curriculum.
Panyathip International School is currently offering AS level courses in the following subjects in the 2013-14 academic year

The fact is that no students are currently enrolled for the June exam series, so the AS certificate is not offered.
It would seem that you do not understand what an AS certificate is. It is NOT a course of study. It is a certificate of attainment of a particular externally assessed level in a particular subject. So you cannot say "I have an AS". What you can say is "I have achieved a C, (insert whatever letter you like), in AS level English."  So you cannot offer an" AS level course", because no such animal exists. Students can sit for AS certificate exams. The sam thing applies to the IGCSEs and A levels.

Also from the PIS website:
"AS levels are accepted in all UK universities and carry half the weighting of an A Level."
No this is not correct. To get into a university, you need a minimum of 3 A levels, not AS. The best you can hope for with AS levels is to get into a Foundation Year course, and even then you need at LEAST 4 AS levels. Many unis do not even accept AS levels. You actually have a better chance of getting into a uni with the Lao National Certificate. ABAC in Bangkok, a good university, for example accept this and do not accept AS levels.

As you are so well versed in the curriculum of PIS you appear to have already made up your mind regarding your child's education. Consequently I wonder why you are denigrating the curriculum offered by AIS. There are some excellent teachers there.

Thanks for your input and I guess you are some kind of a teacher - at least your way to explain the AS level makes me thinking that.
Having no kids enrolled to it yet, doesn't mean that the facility cannot offer the IGSCE AS/A levels in future. That's just my 2 cents regarding "semantics". I haven't made my mind up yet, but what I do is to visit the facilities and to talk with admin people and teachers in such facilities.

I am far away from denigrating the curriculum at "AIS", and I don't assume anything negative about their teachers. e.g. in fact I really like their foreign headmaster.
What I have stated is just the fact, that the AIS - at least in 2014 - has not been registered for the NSW curriculum in NSW.

There is and will not be any problem with AIS regarding registration for teaching the NSW curriculum. Registration is a formality and in no way reflects on the schools registration or ability to teach.
As an expat with over 40 years of coming and going from Laos, I agree with Vientianeboy's post.

Correct, the problem is external examination/certification.

"I guess you are some kind of a teacher "
I have been called many things, but "some kind of teacher" takes the cake.

"Having no kids enrolled to it yet, doesn't mean that the facility cannot offer the IGSCE AS/A levels in future."
No one said they could not, just that they don't at present.

Dear "Vientianeboy",
sorry about that - you took that obviously very negative. I regret that I wrote it - I apologise for that.

Coming back to the original point: the very certain way of answering by "Somsavath" is providing misleading information. The answer is correct on a first view, but that is only half of the story. If someone like me, not really dealing with that subject on a daily basis would write sth. like that, OK, granted - but taking into consideration that professional teachers/educators/etc. are answering here, dealing with such fundamental information on a daily basis: nope.

As I have reconfirmed with the facility just yesterday, the correct answer regarding the mentioned levels and the PIS facility would have been something like:

They currently do not provide it, but took preparations being able to provide it in future.

Maybe you want to emphasize on semantics, you can go ahead, doesn't bother me.
You certainly understand that for most of the readers here - seeking information - that answer might change considerations.

Thank you and have a good one!

That is what Somsavath said - that they do not currently provide it.
By the way, Pathana are also introducing the IGCSE.
No I did not take your comment negatively.