Expat Guide

Choosing the Type of Education When Moving Abroad

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Mar 16, 2020

Choosing the type of education for your child when moving abroad, anywhere in the world, is very important regardless of whether you plan on staying permanently or need to stay just for a short period of time. For one thing, you must plan and choose a curriculum that is not only best suited for your child but will allow them the flexibility to apply to any university or get into a different school when you move again.

Here we give you some advice on choosing the type of education for your child when moving abroad.

Expats in Malaysia 

Malaysia has a range of schools, from public and private schools to international. However, if you are planning on staying for a short period of time or wish to send your children abroad after they graduate from high school, it is recommended that you send them to international schools in Malaysia as the curriculum in public and private schools are either not, or rarely recognised abroad. On the other hand, international schools have a range of curriculums that are recognised by most schools and universities globally.

This next piece of information is for expat parents who plan to return to their home country soon. It is advisable that during your stay in Malaysia, try finding a school that offers your home country’s curriculum. For example, a French family came to Malaysia with their daughter and since they were not planning on staying for a long time, they sent their child to a school that offered the French curriculum. It helped the child cope with her education better here as well as when she returned to her home country.

If, however, you cannot find a school that offers your home country curriculum, given below is the next best solution.

Malaysian parents planning to move abroad

This following advice is beneficial for Malaysian parents who are planning to move abroad as well. Find a curriculum that is transferable so that when you relocate to a different country, your children would be easily accepted in schools that offer the same curriculum.

Malaysia has several of such internationally recognised curriculums offered by many international schools here, including British curriculums (e.g. IGCSE and A-Levels), International Baccalaureate (IB), American curriculum, and Australian curriculum (ACARA). These curriculums are recommended for parents who wish to send their children abroad after finishing high school or parents who move frequently because of their jobs. Since these curriculums are internationally recognised, it will be easy for the child to be accepted in and adapt to the new school.

Along with these transferable curriculums, there are also schools here in Malaysia that have branches all over the globe. These schools are either under Nord Anglia Education or FORBISIA Education. Both groups focus on offering their students quality international education that is recognised worldwide and easily transferable because Nord Anglia and FORBISIA have international schools scattered all around the globe (FORBISIA focuses more on schools in the Asian region). Schools belonging to either of these educational groups not only have branches spread all over the world, but they offer international curriculums and a global campus, meaning even if you never move, your child will still be able to connect with and learn from students of other countries through school trips and online challenges/competitions.

 

In the end, regardless of whether you’re an expat parent bringing your child to Malaysia or a Malaysian parent moving abroad, the steps of applying to schools outside your home country are the same. You must plan ahead, research and decide carefully. Choosing international and transferable curriculums or finding branch schools and institutions under an international educational group will allow your child to hop from school-to-school without any problems especially if they have to do it often due to your occupation.