Hi Guys....... haven't posted for quite a while now, been busy with business, kids, house, etc, etc. But I have been nosing around sometimes! :roll:
Anyway, this subject is quite interesting to me because of our plans to move to Bali with our kids, which was going to be after this summer but now has been postponed to probably next year! :cry: Why? Because our eldest son decided to go to Uni for a couple of years and we don't want to leave him behind yet!
Our children are simply too precious and we will always do our best for them. As much as we would love to make the big move this summer, our son's education must come first. Next year he'll be 19, so maybe then we'll feel comfortable to leave him behind for a year or so to finish Uni. Hopefully he'll then join us, but if he wants to go further with Uni here then so be it. Our eldest son is not the problem though as he's more or less an adult now. It's the schooling of our 5 yr old son that's worrying us.
Before coming to UK I studied law at a Uni in Jakarta and my qualifications were worth NOTHING! I had to start from scratch again and in the end gave up law and studied something completely different again here! For the last 14 yrs now we've run our own companies and as employers we're aware that there are many people who even went to international schools in African/Asian countries, their quals are simply not recognised here!
Therefore to give them the best chance possible in life, I think it's ok for kids to be educated in places like Bali, but maybe only to a certain level. Personally I'd do it to possibly age 14, making sure that the child has been properly prepared for whichever education system he/she will be going at 14.
For my 5 yr old, I think the plan would be:
1. To age 11 - attend Dyatmika School (Sanur), a top notch bilingual Indonesian school which uses 40% UK curricullum. Not as expensive as International schools.
2. To age 14 - attend an International School with UK curricullum. Don't think there's a British School in Bali, but Canggu Community School does use UK's curricullum. However, at the moment I think only to year 7 (1st year of Secondary). I believe it'll be expanded further in future though!
3. After age 14 - we'll have to explore the options nearer the time, but he will most likely come back to England to study. Either we go back with him, or if he wants to he could perhaps go to a boarding school or even stay with a close relative. It's a long way off, but it still has to be planned carefully, especially financially.