The International Schools Review Forum

Hi! Could anyone tell me about the international schools in korea, japan, singapore? which place would you recommend going to? All three are on my top list of places to go and was wondering about the school/location/packages and so forth. Am a newbie! Help appreciated thanks :)

Singapore - if you can get into one of the established schools and if you are single/teacher-couple, you'd do fine; a colorful expat community, English is widely spoken.

Japan - clean, safe, first-world life, people are kind, but can be insular and difficult to socialise with locals, less expensive than Singapore, though.

S.Korea - if you just want the coin; Seoul is not much of a global city.

Singapore and Japan are almost as popular (Japan may be more so) than Europe when people apply for jobs. As such - its harder to get a job in these two countries specially at the better schools. I also agree with the general comments about the countries made - with South Korea being a bit insular. I've actually heard of South Korea taxi drivers chastising Korean American kids for attending an International School in Seoul.

Also remember that when it comes to South Korea - Jeju is a lovely place to visit but is quite isolating with a very small English speaking expat population. Also - the schools are almost totally Korean which has advantages and disadvantages - like all home country schools.

I generally concur with the previous contributors. SG has become far more expensive than JP, even Tokyo. You need SG2500$ for a 1LDK flat/apartment that isnt a house or room share. That can easily be half your salary. SG does have the benefit of island culture in a very easy to navigate city thats easily accessible. Even with a good compensation package its very difficult to save money in SG, you can its just not easy. Even with two salaries (some IT couples purposely work at different ISs to up their housing allowance) and no kids and living frugally it can be difficult, its easier to save more elsewhere. The long term issues of both JP and SG is that you dont have much of a pension/retirement option, and with your income building your own would be expensive.

Options for socializing really depend on where you are and in JP Tokyo, really isnt JP. Tokyo is a business/commerce city, and there is a lot more English than there is in the prefectures, because there really isnt any need to learn English if you arent going to a university abroad or you arent in international business/commerce (its also why everyone seems to study English forever and never makes any progress). If you live in Tokyo there are plenty of socialization opportunities and a large expat community that SG doesnt have.

JP is one of the top destinations in IE and is as desirable as WE. SG not so much, its mall/resort culture, and it doesnt have the status that JP does. ITs settle/choose SG because it doesnt have many negatives (though COL is a big one).

I generally agree with SK, youre either in Seoul or your nowhere. There are plenty of social opportunities in Seoul, but Seoul is essentially a cheaper Tokyo lite.

I would choose JP as the easy winner, SG a distant second and SK isnt even a contender.

"I would choose JP as the easy winner, SG a distant second and SK isnt even a contender."

I would agree with Psyguy in his ratings here having been to all three places (and worked in a couple).

Korea is super fun! I recommend it. It's much cheaper than the other two but just as developed. Convenient place to live with great infrastructure. Very little English, but HR should take care of the important stuff. Seoul is really fun. Koreans love to eat, drink, sing karaoke, go hiking in the mountains -- all great fun for us ITs too ;)

Am teaching in SG. I have never made so much money, and I have never spent so much money. Sure you can save loads if you eat at the "Kopitiams" (outdoor food courts) where much of the food is salty, oily, and sits pre-cooked in metal trays. "Food Paradise!" they say. Want some international food? Last week had Eggs Benedict and a coffee: SG $32. Fancy a half-decent pint of Stella or Erdinger?: SG $16. Want to release some of that IT stress with a night on the town? Bought 8 shooters for my teaching mates: SG $142. Six months ago I paid for 8 antibiotic pills: SG $75.

I saved more in China. Maybe time to buy some air filters and head back.

Singapore is all efficient and clean but lacks joie de vivre. It's missing a sense of vitality and spontaneity. The culture is very money focused, likely because there's a lot of money to focus on. Have taught in SK also. But would I leave SG and return to Seoul with its crazy traffic, brutal winters, obvious xenophobia, and insular mind-set? But also it's tasty food, nearby mountains, and, well, vitality? Not sure. Keep in mind there are no real international schools in Korea. The teachers are the international part - the students are mostly ethnic Korean birth-tour kids.

What's up with the salaries in Japan? They seem low. Is it the case that salaries are low because so many ITs want to go there? The supply outstrips demand scenario?

@seansmith

Singapore is a national mall/water park.
I also found Seoul to be very superficial, its a lot of locals trying to emulate JP lifestyle and Chinese economics.

JP compensation trends are essentially flat. There re a handful of upper tier ISs that pay well, but if you arent at one of them the difference in coin between an IT and ET is minimal. The OSH benefits are the difference, and even then they tend to be basic, with little more than airfare.

JP has the highest desirability in Asia, many new graduates want to go there at any cost, and they tend to stay more often then you find in other Asian regions. The supply is very high, there are many credentialed ITs working in ET, simply because its what they can get.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @seansmith
>
> Singapore is a national mall/water park.
> I also found Seoul to be very superficial, its a lot of locals trying to
> emulate JP lifestyle and Chinese economics.
>
> JP compensation trends are essentially flat. There re a handful of upper
> tier ISs that pay well, but if you arent at one of them the difference in
> coin between an IT and ET is minimal. The OSH benefits are the difference,
> and even then they tend to be basic, with little more than airfare.
>
> JP has the highest desirability in Asia, many new graduates want to go
> there at any cost, and they tend to stay more often then you find in other
> Asian regions. The supply is very high, there are many credentialed ITs
> working in ET, simply because its what they can get.

Not sure where you are getting your figures from here. It's true that the top tier schools pay very well, but there are lower tier schools that pay double what your average English teacher is paid.

@Rhysboy

I dont agree with that, I use ¥250K as the average ET monthly salary, and double that at half a million ¥/month is not common for a lower tier IS in JP. Those higher salaries are also not consistent when addressing compensation/hour of instructional time. ETs make less but they also teach less than ITs.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Rhysboy
>
> I dont agree with that, I use ¥250K as the average ET monthly salary, and double
> that at half a million ¥/month is not common for a lower tier IS in JP. Those higher
> salaries are also not consistent when addressing compensation/hour of instructional
> time. ETs make less but they also teach less than ITs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I would agree that ¥500K a month would be a bit higher than most/many schools will offer but then again ¥250K sounds a bit low.

That would work out to ¥3,000,000 a year. I don't have access right now to all of the schools' information but ¥4,000,000 a year as a starting salary seemed fairly common as I recall.

@WT123

¥220K is closer to average. If you look at the big chain ESs and the various JP EE (GaijinPot, O-Hayo-Sensi, etc.) recruiting sites ¥250K is an average salary.

What would the average salary for an IT in a lower tier IS in Japan look like?
I've gathered from a couple of postings that housing subsidies have fallen and they don't exactly cover the entire monthly rental?

jeremiah2016 wrote:
> What would the average salary for an IT in a lower tier IS in Japan look like?
> I've gathered from a couple of postings that housing subsidies have fallen and they
> don't exactly cover the entire monthly rental?
-------------------------------------------------------
That's actually what I was trying and failing to figure out a few posts ago. I don't know about lower tier schools but I did see that several schools outside of the Tokyo area had published their salary ranges and they all started around ¥4,000,000 a year (or ¥300,000+ per month). I also saw one 2nd tier school in Tokyo that didn't publish salaries but said a single teacher could save $1500 per month (which may or may not be accurate but is not bad even if you take it with a grain of salt).

Would love to hear from more people with more recent first hand information.

I work at a 2nd tier school not in Tokyo or Yokohama and get paid 500,000 yen per month plus 150,000 yen per month housing allowance. This is based on 10 years teaching experience. Also I do not have deductions for health insurance as that is covered completely.