This article was first published in March 2019.
It’s well-known that international schools in Malaysia cost a lot. Let’s break down the sometimes-hidden costs of international schools here, and answer a couple of common questions about school costs!
The start-up costs
Once you’ve found the best fit school for your child or children, brace yourself: the start-up costs can be high. Expect to pay fee to have your child’s application reviewed and another one, once they’re accepted. Application fees range between 500-1,500 per child and registration fees vary wildly, from 2,000 to 20,000.
Then there’s the deposit. There’s usually no way around this: as well as paying the first term’s fees in advance, schools here almost always ask for one term’s worth of fees as a deposit when you first enroll. You usually can’t get this back without giving at least a term’s notice that you’ll be leaving the school…. Ouch.
Be warned: some international schools also ask you to ‘top up’ this deposit each year, as your child moves up a Year/Grade and their tuition fees increase.
Co-curricular activities
Some schools incorporate co-curricular activities, CCAs, into teacher contracts. That is, teachers are contractually required to offer at least one CCA per week, in addition to their normal teaching load. The benefit for parents? A wide range of CCAs, usually at no additional cost, run by fully-trained teachers.
At other schools – particularly smaller schools – CCAs are run by external providers, and come at an additional cost for parents. Often at a cost of several hundred ringgit per month, these can quickly add up and add a significant amount to your annual school bill.
Fee bundling
There are a lot of extra costs involved on top of your child’s termly tuition fees, often adding up to several thousand ringgit per year. Some schools ‘bundle’ these costs into their tuition fees, so what you see on the fee schedule is what you pay.
Other schools are a bit more sneaky: they publish attractive tuition fees that seem like a bargain – until you realise that you need to add in a technology fee, vaguely-named resource fee, a meal plan fee each month, and purchase your child an iPad or Chromebook…. and that none of these are optional extras.
We haven’t even touched upon bus costs, uniform prices, textbooks, or school camps and trips – but these things add up too. If you are considering enrolling your child in an international school in Malaysia, it’s worth finding a current parent and asking them for a breakdown of these extra costs before you sign up.
All those extra costs aside, why are tuition fees so expensive?
Most parents assume that international schools cost a lot because of their facilities: the swimming pools, the ICT labs, the fancy theatres and the sports field. But that’s not the main reason international schools cost such a lot.
So what IS the answer? It’s pretty simple.
To successfully recruit and retain good expat teachers, international schools need to pay them well. That means a competitive salary – one that is comparable to the countries from which the teachers are hired. That salary is then combined with other benefits like medical insurance, housing allowance, flights home at the start and end of each contract and school places for any children.
What does this mean for schools? Hiring expat teachers is expensive. In fact, around 80-85% of a school’s budget is taken up by teacher salaries and benefit packages.
International schools in KL that hire 90-100% expat teachers (such as M’KIS, ISKL, Alice Smith, GIS & BSKL) are invariably at the top of the fee tables, with their tuition fees costing up to a staggering 120,000RM a year. These schools all have fantastic facilities too, but it is their teaching faculties that form the bulk of their costs.
Which is better: not-for-profit or for-profit schools?
This one isn’t so easy to answer. The idea of a not-for-profit school is certainly much nicer, and many parents like the thought that any profits made are carefully put back into the school to further enrich and support learning. However, I’ve worked in both types of schools and I can say this: it really depends on how well the school is fiscally managed.
Unless a not-for-profit school is carefully managed, there might not be much profit at all – let alone anything to sow back into the school. A well-managed for-profit school, on the other hand, can make a lot of money and thus plenty can be poured back into resourcing, staffing and facilities.
It really depends, and it’s a question that definitely doesn’t have a ‘good vs. bad’ answer.
A few tips
There’s no doubt international schools here in expensive – but hopefully, if you are able to find the school that is truly the best fit for your child, then it’ll be worth every sen.
When choosing a school, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions about potentially hidden costs, before signing on the dotted line. It’s important to know exactly where you stand financially.
Schools are often willing to be flexible with regard to some of the larger up front payments required at the beginning of a child’s enrollment – paying deposits or enrollment fees in installments is often possible. If you are worried about these start-up costs, don’t be afraid to speak to the school’s admissions team.
Also have a look at these posts on international schools in KL:
- Top tips for choosing an international school in Malaysia here.
- Questions to ask when looking for the right preschool in KL here.
- How to prep for first day of school for little kids here.
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Helen aka. Edumama spent more than a decade working in international schools all over the world. She is the founder of SchoolSelect Malaysia, Malaysia’s first specialised international school consultancy, and is passionate about helping families navigate the complex school selection process.
