Discussion on International School Fees

[Thaiclan]

My child is in Year 1, her school fees cost the equivalent of around 12,000GBP per annum. Back in the UK an excellent private school would not cost that much for a child in infants school.
The situation is the same around Asia with International School fees pretty much the same across the region.
What I fail to understand is how can a school in the UK be cheaper when they must pay their support staff (canteen operators, admin, cleaners etc) so much more in wages than the support staff earn in Asia?
I understand the teachers are paid well (but not fantastically), and here in Singapore land is a premium but it still doesn't add up. Is it purely because thats what they CAN charge or am I missing an integral factor.....?

[carolynW]

Yes its called econs 101, "charge what the market can bear" and demand and supply, tho I just read that several International Schools are closing down as "students" are not walking thru their doors anymore.

My kids for the first time in their lives are going to an International School (only because the co is paying and they will "transition" smoothly into primary), otherwise it would be a local school!

I did observe that the facilities are better than the "farm nursery school" they went to in S. Africa, like the PTA meetings they had big overhead screens projecting the slides, very fancy smancy stuff but I thought unnecessary.

On the other hand, their last school was rather cozy but I do remember a parent then saying that that place seemed "slapped together". Well fee difference? US$ 1,200 k vs US$10,000 per annum. Jury is still out for me on price for quality.

[clarison]

It will be interesting to see what happens to int'l school fees in the next term or two. With the exception of SAS and TTS and perhaps one or two others they are all for-profit ventures, and if the demand isn't there . . .

[road.not.taken]

They may be not-for-profit, but they still must build their endowments for the lean years and cover their increasing operational costs. They also get no funding from the government, but I guess you could argue that a break on taxes is just that.