International schools in Vientiane.?

I have 3 children aged, 5, 9 and 14 going to the Kiettisack school. The kids love it and I have nothing but good to say about the school.

I also would recommend Kittiesak or Panyathip. Both offer a very good education for a decent fee. I personally know both schools and have no hesitation to recommend either of them.

Thanks for your suggestions.
-A

I honestly have to say that both KIS and PIS are a flip of the coin. Both offer about the same quality but a different management style. Each one has experienced exceptional growth with tells you something about the local opinion or assessment of the schools. I think that each one has complimentary strengths and weaknesses as do all schools. My son and daughter will be going to KIS. I know many students there and they learn well and most seem quite happy. But then again so did the students at the other school. I would say visit both and talk to the teachers after you get the sales pitch. Find families that have children there and ask the children what they think as well. In the past there were a lot of negative things posted about the schools in Vientiane but I found them to be mostly false. Trust either of these schools and you will do fine. About the most famous VIS, I have some hesitation about it. It seems to be more elitest and caters to NGO, government and Embassy staff or deep pockets. While the school markets the IB program I find the trend is to move away from the program in the international community now. You can research the pros and cons of it. But they still push it very heavily. Not that it is a bad thing of course, I just wonder what they would market if they did not have it.

AIS is also a pretty good school and the Australian ambassador has actually certified that AIS has been granted the authority by the Board of Studies of NSW to use the NSW curriculum.

AIS is also the only school after VIS TO provide international certifications.The ACE(Australian Certificate of Education) and HSC(Higher School Certificate)and the fees are very reasonable.

As far as I am aware, KIS also uses the nsw curriculum.

Frankly I would recommend AIS. Although this school just opened it is far better than KIS and PIS. Trust me, since I used to be a lawyer back in the States, and want my children to have the best education, I went through every single detail, contacting all schools, former students, former professors and by visiting the premises. Basically Panyathip has a lot of advertisement but the curriculum and the teachers levels do not qualify as high standard.
KIS used to be pretty good, but management has fallen to pieces as I have heard from a friend who used to have her kids there.
AIS on the other hand is quite cheap, there are alot of activities offered by the school (such as summer school: the kids will learn during the week and go kayaking and camping during the weekend).
The teachers are very opened and aware that each kid has his own special need (my first daughter wasn't very emancipated when it came to going to school but she opened up and her grades are higher than ever).
I would also recommend Vientiane Pattana or however that is spelled. It is similar to AIS and has a great program. I hear Hoffet students go there since the ambiance in that french school isnt what it used to be.

To the above poster. I think right now you will hear a lot of different things. ...research. How do you say far better? What is your criteria. New schools are hot at the start and seek a level of operation during the first two years. Quality will expose itself. The schools you have mentioned are expanding and building new campuses. This should tell you something. A lot of schools are for the money but I can assure you KIS is not one of them. It is investing heavily, very heavily in staff, campus upgrade and the students future. PIS is also expanding. I hear very little about AIS so I don't know about them or any other school in the area. I do know the schools that are rated in the top three are VIS, KIS and PIS. KIS is seeking certification as we speak. So again, find what you are happy with and put you happiness there. If anything management has improved and is getting better at all schools. If they do not they die a slow death. These schools have been here for years. If the school is doing it's job to educate then it has the enrolment, if it doesn't...? I honestly don't know of any that are just not doing it. But I don't know of every school in the country either.

I cannot agree more with T-Lao's post above. I looked onto schools in VT before sending my children to KIS.
Our youngest daughter has been going there since she was 3. At 6 yrs old she enjoys going to school each morning. Our 9 yr old son and 15 yr old daughter are the same.
I would also dispute the claim about KIS management falling to pieces. On what do you base this claim ?? My experience of management at KIS has always been positive. I have found them approachable and open to suggestion.
AIS is cheap, VIS is expensive. KIS is inbetween. Cheapest is not always the best and sometimes neither is the most expensive.
Summer school at KIS offers a range of classes to which I am sending our youngest daughter this year as she has asked for this.
In the 3 years our 3 children have been going to KIS I have noticed a definite change for the better in them. 
I have spent time at the school watching classes and I find the teaching staff to be committed and showing a genuine interest in their pupils.
As more schools come online in Vientiane those who do not provide the level of service required will not survive. KIS will.

For information to all potential parents of children. The Ambassador of a country does not have the authority nor the qualifications to give accreditation to a school they may can certify but that is just acknowledgement. I have been on certification committees and it takes a long time at least a year, very labor intensive and includes students, parents, staff, owners and even the maintenance and kitchen staffs. It is not easy to meet all the requirements the first time. I was on a committee applying for accredidation with Council of International Schools (CIS). Being certified and accredited are not the same thing. Accredidation is the name of the game. KIS I know is working towards theirs. VIS has theirs not sure about others but the ambassadors are not a part of accreditation that is recognized internationally for educational purposes not operational.

In response to T-Lao:
Firstly, I am not sure how you can substantiate your claim that "the trend is to move away from the [IB] program" - this is certainly not the case, globally, which is where VIS students are coming from.
And secondly, "I just wonder what they would market if they did not have it [the 3 IB programs]" - well, isn't that like saying "What would a hospital have if it didn't have any medicines?".
The fact is that VIS prides itself on its curricula which, in my opinion, is the sign of a good school. There are too many schools around, I am sorry to say, which seem to have alternative priorities.

Well, enrose we all have our opinions and you make valid points as do all. The IB program has been the latest fad in education. I have been teaching for 31 years abroad and I have been in many aspects of the programs offered. I can say that the IB program is a marketing curriculum. A very good curriculum but others compete well. Many students from many other programs enter western universities every year and many out perform IB educated students. My statement reflects what I have seen in the last 5 years. Sorry but only my experiences. I recommend none over another as long as the students benefit. Yes, enrose many schools are in it for alternative reasons. A fact and gap filled by those that will milk the system until the government finally regulates and sets standards across the boards. It is called educational evolution and it is happening all over Asia. In fact, it is happening in Africa and even India. We see it happening in China everyday. The pendilum does swing. I also teach in Vientiane and was offered a job at VIS a few years ago but it did not fit my needs as a perfessional teacher on a personal level. The IB fits the foreign students well but that is what it is designed for to keep those students in a foreign type curriculum to prepare for foreign universities. Students in countries abroad are not conditioned for the rigors of the IB program this I must conceed. However, I am also a placement teacher in universities and again not all IB students will be accepted. So lets end this tit for tat discussion. It works but like all things change is enevitable. It is not superior not immortal. I have worked in the Japanese, Singaporean, Thai, Indian, S. African, many areas of S.America, S.Korea, Taiwan, and China....and in the fields of math and science some will knock the IB out of the box. I wonder why? Again, no one has the perfect system. And a hospital without medicines is a good analogy but medicine is a matter of definition and culture not all western meds or hospitals are top notch either.

You are right about one aspect of your reply, but not about another. The IB programme is not for everyone - however, if you would like your children to be accepted at any university in Australia (working for an Australian company this is of importance to me) or at some establishments in the USA (Harvard, Princeton and MIT for example) you might wish to opt for a rigorous (not necessarily elitist), widely accepted programme.
I did my homework when choosing a school for my sons. A quick glance at the stats would be useful... over one million students in 141 countries. Biggest growth area? Asia - particularly China and India. (Incidentally - why "even" India? A country that has more honor students than the USA has students!)
What I would disagree with is the term "fad". It has been going since the 1950s (a 60 year-fad) and is being driven by the work of some of the best educational minds on the planet. Many of them out of Harvard and even I had heard of Gardner! No doubt a teacher of your experience will know of their work.
Do I expect anyone to take my word for the relative quality of the schools in Vientiane? No! So what should a family new to the area look for?? Do your homework (yes, like me) Where is a school that runs an outstanding curriculum? Which has been given a stamp of approval from independent organisations - CIS and WASC (again 5 minutes on Google) and most important.... go into the school. Talk to the teachers, talk to the kids, grill the head teacher about education (and expect them to talk about curriculum  and differentiation - that's what they do (or rather, should do).
I might be a loud-mouthed Aussie, but even I was moved by the mission statement of the IB. Check it out. (extra homework).
Lastly, if you think the education at VIS is expensive - try totting up the "cost" of the alternative.

T-Lao, do you even have the slightest idea about what you are posting? The IB is a certification with world wide recognition. Your comment that the "trend is away fro the IB" is totally incorrect. The trend is away from the PYP and the MYP, not the IB.
Yes, the IB is not for all and the certification offered by Kiettisack International school is of equal standing to the IB. Both are accepted as university entrance levels.

Hello,

I will recommend we all take a deep breath and stay calm .
Or the thread will have to be closed.

Melissa

You are quite correct Melissa. However I do find it annoying when people shoot from the hip. Statistics showing the growth of the IB are not difficult to find. Further to call the IB a "fad" is a very silly comment as it has been in existence for a long time now.
For what its worth, I am not a great fan of the IB however let us not post inaccurate comments as a basis for discussion.

The website for AIS seems to be closed. I am in Hanoi, does anyone know what the AIS fees are like?

hdgh29

I suggest you contact the Australian Embassy in Vientiane as the school may well have a new web address.

AIS has nothing to do with the Australian Embassy, Stumpy.

Somsavath

What you say is true but the embassy may well have contact details for the school. The embassy helped my friends with details of schools available in Vientiane.

AIS is a relatively new school. I have heard little about it even though I have been teaching in Vientiane for a couple of years. I think it is still around though. But if your looking for a school for children there are some really good schools available so shop around.

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AIS has been around for some years. They have a very small student population. They do not teach the IB. They do not have an international curriculum.

As a teacher who has worked in Laos for some time, I recommend Oscar Bilingual School. It's a new school so you may not have heard much about but it's the best school at the moment. The teachers and the students are happy there.The worst schools would be AIS and Eastern Star Bilingual School. Some of my friends have worked there and you can't possibly imagine what kind of sh** happens there. Parents seem to know so little and the schools cover up their mess. I have also heard some crazy stories from teachers in KIS...

Hi EFLteacher,

This is only to inform you that you have replied to an old thread here (2013).

However, thank you for your contribution.

Priscilla 

Both PIS and KIS offer international qualifications that will allow tertiary study in Westen universities, (IGCSE, AS and A levels)

I have 4 children and I did decide on which school to place them in. I am happy and  they are doing fine. My expectations are not fully meet but I have to chose the best from what I have to chose from.  I encourage everyone to shop around. Look at all the hidden cost. Look at the management and interview them individually. Pull out parents and different grade level students and ask questions. Your children's future is at stake and Laos has limited offers but some good ones are to be found.

Author Dent wrote:

I have 4 children and I did decide on which school to place them in. I am happy and  they are doing fine. My expectations are not fully meet but I have to chose the best from what I have to chose from.  I encourage everyone to shop around. Look at all the hidden cost. Look at the management and interview them individually. Pull out parents and different grade level students and ask questions. Your children's future is at stake and Laos has limited offers but some good ones are to be found.

Welcome to the forum.

Are you in Laos ?? You're profile says otherwise.

Oscar is ok however the standard of English amongst the students is not high.

As far as schools go and all the stories one hears it means that you need to do your own due diligence and research.

Our 3  kids have had no problems at KIS and I personally like the teaching regime there. Youngest daughter has been going there since she was 3, now 8 and loves it.

very interesting discussions, but not too sure if I would want to see my kids in laos schools. whatever programs laos schools may have, I don't think they are comparable to those in first world countries.

at the end of the day, it's not really about what schools you went to but what you can do with the education you got from schools. as most people with lots of education will tell you, you will use very little of what you were taught in schools; for example, I took lots of courses in mathematics at the universities, but the most often math I have used were the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. so why did I took advanced calculus, abstract algebra, partial differential equations, and so on.....perhaps because I wanted to help many professors keep their jobs?

My kids go to KIS and I am pleased with the standard of tuition. It is equivalent to what you would get in a good western school. Yours is a confused post. Are you commenting on the quality of the education or all school curricula in general?  If the latter, then what does that have to do with Lao schools?  The curricula is comparable to that offered in the west.

somsavath, I have visited a few schools in laos and in my judgement they do not measure up to schools in America that I have been educated from. laos has a long way to go regarding improving its education system. I have spoken to students from those foreign schools that has been discussed in this post, and i'm not impressive with their level of intellect. my six years old know more than many high school students in laos that we have visited. it is sad, but that is the reality of laos.

my post isn't confusing, but I think connecting the dots for the readers is what is causing the confusion?
again, it's not the education that determines the success of a student's life. as most would known that knowledge is only one side of the coin, the other side is the application of that knowledge. I have worked with those who graduated from Harvard, MIT, Caltech, etch which are considered the top universities in America, these people have been no better than those who graduated from small almost unknown universities. I graduated from one of the top universities in my state, I don't consider myself any better because I know I don't know every thing and i'm not good in every thing.

people needs to stop counting their chickens before the eggs hatch?

my posts have everything to do with laos, and I hope that we all can make laos a better country someday.

I really don't mean to be rude, but your level of English expression is not as good as many of the students at these schools; just look at the mistakes in your previous post and I assume you are a native speaker. You might find some difficulty in getting a job. Now I am Lao and even I can pick up those errors. I would question how you could teach English. Maths? Maybe!

Getting a good job does depend on where you have completed your degree. A degree from Dongdok will not get you a job heading the Mars exploration mission for NASA. A degree from ABAC just might.

somsavath, this blog is an assessment tool for you?
I was borne in laos and planted in America, so English is the third language for me. I get by with my English proficiency operating my own corporations for many years now, and I do agree that it will be a challenging task for me to become an employee in laos.

the good thing is that at least the new generations of Laotians will speak more languages and be integrated into the world community. let's hope that laos will open more doors for free enterprises into the country

"somsavath, this blog is an assessment tool for you?"
I did not say that it was at any stage. However at one stage you intimated that you could teach English. I don't think you could. Maths may well be a different proposition.

Hello guys,

Can we please come back to the subject which is International schools in Vientiane.? please?

Thanks

Priscilla

We are still on the topic. Charlie thinks he could teach English at a Lao IS and I think he could not.