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Hi Chokkie,

Just to share with you, if you are interested in sending your kids to ELC,Cyberjaya & looking for accomodation very nearby the school (walking distance), my friend is looking for tenant for his new condo - Gardenview Residence.聽 If you need his details, pls pm me.

Thanks,
Miz Sunshine

Hi
we are planing to move to kl in April and my office would be in KLCC. I prefer to live in Mont kiara. what do you suggest for my 8 years daughter school? Do you have any idea of school fare and is there any queue for international schools in kl?
thanks and regards

To all those who put their kids in ELC in Sept 2012, can you share your experiences? I'm planning on putting my 4-year old daughter in Reception in Sept 2013.

Me and the ol' ball 'n chain :-D visited the school with our daughter and we quite liked it for the fees they were charging. When we did "the tour", the kids hanging around greeted us with a smile (I like that; reflects on the school); the only drawback (if you could call it that) is I saw a couple of teachers at the cafetaria who seemed "grumpy". But maybe it's my imagination ;-)

I also think that looks can be very deceptive and everything isn't necessarily as it seems, until you're in it completely. So your experiences would be helpful.

Hi Ehsan,

I think most people would like to stay closer to people of their own nationality. I moved here in October 2012 from Dubai and I currently stay in an area called Wangsa Maju. There are a ton of Iranians in this area (I am not sure of the exact reason) but I understand families with kids are interested in the two international schools in the vicinity - Sri Utama International School and Sayfol International School. You can check out the websites of these schools for fee details and contact numbers.

Check out accomodation at these condominium buildings - Desa Putra, Villa Wangsamas, Seri Maya, Riana Green (iproperty.com.my). Rental rates are mainly in the range of 2-3K per month for a 3BR condo (more money, better property). The train station is 5-7 mins walking distance to these places and there are 4-5 train stops to KLCC (roughly 10-15 mins ride). So very convienient all round.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi Chippies,

What's your experience with ELC so far? I actually visited ELC and Tenby and I liked them both. I got the feeling that ELC is more academic focused, while Tenby tries to focus on co-curricular activities and academics.

I am worried about the assessment though; they expect kids to write mini-essays???? that's what the admissions admin person said. Worried.... Can anyone share what is actually done at the assessments?

Also I am constantly astonished by the number of korean students in the international schools. So insane that some schools have a quota for them. Anyone know why the influx of Koreans?

Remember in Asia many of the poor schools are good at marketing. Those shinty new looking ict rooms for example look new as too few an the students never use them! Schools also get prefects to greet parents and train them.

There are long waiting lists for international schools in KL and especially for the better ones. In mk you have GIS and MKIS. Desa park city is not so far either. All are 90%+ expat staff.

You get what you pay for btw. Many of the so called international schools use mostly unqualified local staff - paid less than state school teachers. a proper school will be 60% plus expat staff and focus on learning not marketing. Have a look at a range of schools.

Hi Fran88,

We have just moved to KL and are frantically looking for a school for our two children.聽 We are thinking seriously of sending our children to the Cyberjaya ELC school purely as the initial application fees are not as extotionate as the other international school.聽 After reading your post I am now having second thoughts.聽 We've moved to KL from London and into a schooling nightmare. It is really bad here and so far all the international schools I have been to are all about money and show, academically they are all really lacking. Please shed some more light on ELC it will help us, thank you.

Happyaslarry

To the parents currently at ELC Sg Buloh
We are relocating to KL and are interested in ELC Sg Buloh.

Can you share wat your children love and dislike abt the sch?
Are the cls sizes really limited to 19 students?
Are teachers positive? Teaches the Asian way ? Or international school method?
Do the nationalities reflect international environment or overrun by one or two nationalities?

Really appreciate any feedback!

** Emeraldgreen*

hi happy, just check out this new school - rafflesia international school in puchong. its starting in sept 2013. went for an open day and got a good vibe. try to contact them and visit their office. make ur own opinion after that. send me a pm if u want. happy to share notes and other schools. i have visited most of them.

Thanks Carlyle,

I'll get onto it straight away, I am really stressed about the kids schooling, the schools here are all much of a muchness, had I known the hassle I was going to have I would haveseriously had second thoughts about coming to KL.聽 Thanks for your support.
Have checked out Nexus and British International School, I found it very odd that Nexus were employing foreign staff that were not all qualified teachers, the lady in charge of admisions said the school was recruiting,and when I told her that I was a qualified primary school teacher from London with over 10 experience she took my CV. However soon after she emailed me saying that the deputy head said that the school were not recruiting, what is even more strange is that when I looked on job street he had only placed an advert for teachers needed at this school the same day.
As for the British International School, please I implore all parents who genuinely care about their children's education, dont even bother with this joke of a school. The English staff are a disgrace to the national curriculum, the deputy head is some australian joker who seriously dosent know his arm from his elbow, when I questioned him on how literacy was implemented into the reception planning he started talking about numbers, digits and said they used a bit of jolly phonics. The teachers there all look like they have been recruited as NQT's, which is basically cheap labour and there is a tall bird called EMMA, she is just the sales person. Even the head of Secondry who happens to be the head of ICT and who's wife is the head of EYFS in the school became very defensive when I questioned him about the ICT planninf and whatscheme do the follow if any. I am so so so disappointed, I had such hopes and these two schools have really dashed them:(

happy, i think u rightly said in one of urposts that the fees cover mainly the facilities and not neccessarily the type of education ie teachers. i wish theyd focus more on education than facilities. u gave an insightful view of both schools. im very keen to hear about ur visit to rafflesia and ur opinion. try to talk directly to the principal, chris.

Thnks for yr frank sharing.
Which school have you placed yr kids now?
We are looking for international schools as we will be relocating to Malaysia
* emerald green*

Hi Kiwi
I am currently reading through your post about schools. We are planning to move in a couple of months time to Malaysia.Just聽 wondering which school did you opt for. Could you please share some details as I am really confused.

We narrowed down to GIIS and ELC but i find the extra curricular is not very great in GIIS but a couple of posts about ELC is a bit worrying.

Appreciate your help on this. If you have chosen ELC , are the kids happy ,what is your thought.

Hi,

Which part of India are you from? I used to study in Bangalore and Mangalore.

Where will you be working in Malaysia? ELS and GIIS are not near each other. Where you send your child to school and where you stay should depend on place of work because the traffic in KL can be very bad.

I understand that ELS uses the British IGCSE curriculum and GIIS uses the Indian CBSE curriculum. Which is your preference?

Thomas, Cyberjaya
thomask1965@yahoo.com

Hello ladies and gents! I have an 8-year old daughter and I am looking for a school for her. The posts have been very helpful and I am now thinking about visiting the schools to check them out myself. Can you guys tell me how your kids' are doing in their respective schools now?

Carlyle,

Can you share more info about Rafflesia International School too? I'm also currently looking at that school for my kids because we are staying around that area. We just relocated back to Malaysia recently, would like to have my kids to continue their study in british curriculum rather than going to the state school.

Appreciate it if you can share your feedback, thanks alot.

hi imd, rafflesia is a new school and i got a good vibe from the principal. however, the location is in puchong which is too far from me and i have decided to not enrol my daughter here. but check them out for urself.

cool, will try to meet with the Rafflesia Principal by next week and share our feedback here.

thanks alot for the quick reply Carlyle. Hopefully he is as good as you say, there are too many 'questionable' international schools around KL as I read in other forum.

Cheers.

Hello Sugan amd Chippies,
What is your experience with ELC? Thanks.
Best Regards
Mike

z3mama - you should start ur own thread as this is quite old.

getting to ur question, expensive is quite relative. u may wanna specify a budget. fellow bloggers can give more accurate suggestions.

if ur staying at mont kiara, u can check out garden international, mont kiara international or a little further out desa park international schools. the websites are quite transparent with school fees.

glad to help z3. any other questions, pls post.

Sad to note the tread though old but is not concluded...so how is ELC anywhere for those who had their kids enrolled and studied there, cyberjaya or sg buloh.

Had also considered rafflesia and been communicating with the team, via phone calls, mails, and visited personally to their presentation.聽 In conclusion, at least to date based on all info i could gather, i could only say they are not ready.

So have to consider other schools, pls could someone reply on elc status? Tqvm

hohsp, it is tough to get into elc, but i heard its a good school. very strict on discipline. but visit them and get ur own opinion, if they have available seats.

Thx.聽 Just spoke to elc cyber, the waiting list applies only for sg buloh campus.聽 They are introducing primary year 6 external checkpoint by cambridge school.聽 They always sound serious and could gather so the culture there too.

yea i think discipline is a key factor in their way of education. i assumed u were looking at sg buloh. my mistake. it will b easier for your kiddo to get into the cyberjaya branch. good luck :-)

Is it safe to send a 4 year old to school on the school bus in Malaysia. going from Desa Park City to ELC school ???

i do it. no problems so far.

ELC is a good school. I have 2 kids there and they enjoy it so much. The teachers are nice. I also consider for very long time before I enrolled my kids in this school cos I saw a lot of bad comments from elc parents in 2009. But it's an old issue. I talked to the existing parents in Elc now n the old issues were no longer existed. Elc is a good school in term of reasonable school fee, nice teachers and environment.

Hi Malaysia2013,

Are your kids in Cyberjaya or Sungai Buloh? Would like to hear more about Cyberjaya. Cyberjaya seems the next developing area in Klang Valley so we are considering to move there.

My kids are studying in sungai buloh campus. It's a good school

aipo - Cyberjaya is not a particularly new area and is only really developing because businesses are locating there and of course Government departments as well, because of subsidies. It is close to Putrajaya which is the real civic centre and the focus for political and planning activities.

Most internationals report that it lacks facilities and entertainment and so is not very popular with them - many of them moving out quite quickly and relocating nearer KL and closer to public transportation.

International schools cater for Malaysian and foreign kids and there is a move locally towards seeking out education in English to ensure language skills are sufficient for future overseas education and better employment opportunities.

Hello Malaysia 2013. Are your children attending primary school? Does the school give students tonnes of homework? Are there lots of exams too? Does the school provide other activities than studies (musical concerts, drama, art, sports festivals etc)?

Personal impressions are - just that - personal and not really聽 valid

Dont believe anything you read on a forum. Check it out yourself.

Get your own impression. It's the only way to ne happy abut where you send your kids.聽 Don't believe anything you read

Unlike the Ofsted in England, malaysia government does not have a professional body that scrutinises the quality of schools on regular basis. As a result the educational system in Msia is often in a mess. However, it does not mean we don't have a good schools here, in actual facts they are many good and excellent ones but they are diamond underneath the earth, you just have labour hard to dig them out.

For foreigner with young primary/elementary school age children, I would personally suggest you if possible please let your children study in the local Chinese Primary School for 3 years in order for them to pick up the Mandarin language, then move them onto International / Private English school. By doing so you will truly leverage your moments in Msia and gain the most for your children during your stay here. But please note that Chinese Primary school is often a hot cake among the local Chinese Malaysian, competition is harsh and early booking is a must.

we are relocating to KL this December 2013.. My focus is to settle well in KL and provide a good and enjoyable education to my kids!聽 聽But the schooling is not paid by our current company in KL, and so we will need to pay the full amount from out of pocket. So I need to see into schools that suits our budget.

Do have any reviews of Am leaning towards ELC, CHEMPAK? How is the safety issues in KL?

This place is an unknown territory for us, that why am so anxious!! If you know of any other good international schools, please do let me know!!

Whereabout are you staying?