Samui Has Another International School

[maccaroni man]

I was informed yesterday that the Samui Center of Learning in Lamai has been granted an international license, this is great news for parents who want their children to recieve international education with affordable tuition. Samui is developing well in the area of education as places such as Hua Hin do not have even 1 international school and imo good school are one of the corner stones of over all development. Great job and congratulations to the owners and staff at SCL

[joe84330]

good news.

[koheesti]

I was at their school once a year or two ago and was really impressed.

[MSingh]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

[perkie173]

Awesome! I have a couple of friends who teach at the school and they are great people! I'm so happy for them

[Rooo]

I was at their school once a year or two ago and was really impressed.

Heard good things about them.

[maccaroni man]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

out side of not having an international license or meeting the requirements set forth by the ministry of education which means no teaching staff with only a tefl deploma, I am sure you are right.

[careless]

What does one consider affordable tuition? What are we talking in Bahts for say grade 6.

thanks Carol

[maccaroni man]

What does one consider affordable tuition? What are we talking in Bahts for say grade 6.

thanks Carol

i have 2 children in one grade 8 and one grade 2 i pay just under 100k per term for both, honestly i am not sure of the break down but i know the fee is including lunch, books, paper,pencils, bus, might as well say all in, i am not being asked for extra cash at any time. Is it almost free? not hardly, is it almost free compared to what else is being offered? almost.

[BangrakBob]

What does one consider affordable tuition? What are we talking in Bahts for say grade 6.

thanks Carol

i have 2 children in one grade 8 and one grade 2 i pay just under 100k per term for both, honestly i am not sure of the break down but i know the fee is including lunch, books, paper,pencils, bus, might as well say all in, i am not being asked for extra cash at any time. Is it almost free? not hardly, is it almost free compared to what else is being offered? almost.

How many terms are in a Samui school year?

[steelepulse]

Appears to be 3 terms.

http://www.samuicentreoflearning.com/about/fees/

>>I was informed yesterday that the Samui Center of Learning in Lamai has been granted an international license

Does this mean that the school is now accredited for the IB?

[MSingh]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

out side of not having an international license or meeting the requirements set forth by the ministry of education which means no teaching staff with only a tefl deploma, I am sure you are right.

You mean diploma ??

Let's hope your Kid learns English a bit better than Dad aye, especially at those International Schools down there, that is if the Teachers aren't too hungover & can be bothered to teach ..

Long live the King..

[Maipenrai007]

Great News, congrats to Samui Centre of Learning.

[ESB7]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

Thats the reason, Hua Hin has very good state schools so there isnt any need for an extorniate fee charging business that hides behind the words education and international......

[BusyBee123]

How long has this fabulously expensive school been open, any famous ex pupils?

[steelerian]

Why are schools such as this charging so much money? What history do they have, or proven results?

[JimShortz]

Why are schools such as this charging so much money? What history do they have, or proven results?

How much are they charging?

Their fees are, of course, never going to be similar to the price of Thai schools... but then I would hope that the education provided has little in common with that provided in most Thai schools!

If you want suitably qualified and experienced western teachers to work full time in Thailand for a number of years in a fully professional manner then you have to pay reasonable wages, or you simply won't attract the right people. That doesn't mean you have to pay full western wages (it's mostly only the christian missionaries and (some) NGO workers working here get those ), but it does mean that you will have to offer a starting salary approaching 50,000 Baht a month as a minimum to start with + flights to home country each year + healthcare, etc.

Some international schools (those with the highest fees) do, however, pay full western wages. This is a great deal for the teachers, but I'm yet to be convinced this level of pay is necessary in Thailand to attract and retain good quality well qualified teachers, or that it really works for them - they in many cases have the highest staff turnover! I think that what attracts and retains teachers is a decent living wage plus an environment where they get good working conditions and real job satisfaction, whilst being treated like a professional...

You can, of course, offer very low wages in an international school but we all know what you get if you pay peanuts...

[maccaroni man]

How long has this fabulously expensive school been open, any famous ex pupils?

this school has been open longer than any international type school on the island, i think it opened in 2004 so yes it has a long running history. I like the school for many reasons including teacher to student ratio 1/6 for my oldest. The quality of teaching staff this year is very good this year ad has been for the 3yrs we have been with them. The new purpose built school building is a nice as well. One of the reasons that we did not go with the other international school when it opened was because we did not want to deal with the growing pain stages that all new business have and of course the high fees.

[maccaroni man]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

Thats the reason, Hua Hin has very good state schools so there isnt any need for an extorniate fee charging business that hides behind the words education and international......

If anyone who lives in Hua Hin has been on this forum for any period of time you will know that i own quite a bit of land in hua hin, and cha am, why? because we love Hua Hin town, it is clean, the roads are good, the beaches are ok, there are 8 places to golf, and it is not too far from bkk. the problem for us was education. we have a plan for our children to live and study outside of thailand when they reach a certain age. We do not approve of 40 to 50 children in a class room and we are willing to pay for our children to learn from qualified native english teachers. Hua Hin did not and does not offer us this option. One of the great things about samui is the development is geared towards expats. I have nothing against Hua Hin but lets be honest it is not as user friendly as Samui and for it's size, and age has not developed at the pace that Samui has. imo hh is still the ugly step child to bkk. so why do people who have lived on samui and for what ever reason left to relocate in places such as cha am or hua hin find that they need to slag samui? Samui is not for everyone just as HH and Cha Am are not for everyone so be it.

[BusyBee123]

How long has this fabulously expensive school been open, any famous ex pupils?

this school has been open longer than any international type school on the island, i think it opened in 2004 so yes it has a long running history. I like the school for many reasons including teacher to student ratio 1/6 for my oldest. The quality of teaching staff this year is very good this year ad has been for the 3yrs we have been with them. The new purpose built school building is a nice as well. One of the reasons that we did not go with the other international school when it opened was because we did not want to deal with the growing pain stages that all new business have and of course the high fees.

1/6 sounds great , shame they don't seem to have a website like all schools in the uk which is very dissapointing given the kids of today will be in a digital wonderland when they grow up! Can I ask a few questions please..

What curriculum is taught? is the International Baccalaureate available?

Do international schools have league tables for their results, if so where is Samui?

How are teachers vetted?

Are the fees progressively more expensive the older the children get?

What's the ultimate education standard the school hopes to attain for each pupil?

What's the mix of kids there, can thai children attend?

Hope you can help.

[Rooo]

Removed slanderous posts . There is no need for these sort of arguments & insults.

[MSingh]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the School my Daughter goes to in Hua Hin, at all..

Thats the reason, Hua Hin has very good state schools so there isnt any need for an extorniate fee charging business that hides behind the words education and international......

We do not approve of 40 to 50 children in a class room and we are willing to pay for our children to learn from qualified native english teachers.

40 - 50 in a Class ??? In a Goverment/State School maybe, i wouldn't know..

Not in teh one that you know i'm talkign about of course, as i think you know, but don't let the truth get in the way of making a point aye ..

I'm a huge Fan of Bluewater by teh way which is where i chose my Daighter to attend when on Samui & i didn't regret a day of it & am not against International Schools on Samui, nor the SCOL in which i have some Friends Kids who attend there & have nothing but praise for it..