Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Private Primary School Education

I've compiled a shortlist of private schools which offer primary school education. Tuition fees about 10-15K per year.

Bandar Sri Damansara
Kota Damansara
Subang Jaya
Petaling Jaya
Damansara Heights

A list of International schools below: All extremely pricey - about 30-50K for tuition fees per year.
Jln Bukit Kiara
Jln Bellamy, KL
Bandar Utama
Cheras
Putrajaya

After scrutinising the websites, we are very likely to consider private schooling and at this initial stage, looks like Cempaka Damansara Heights is the preferred choice but I need to know the tuition fees. So, I emailed the registrar for more info on tuition fees and this was what I got.....

To apply for acceptance, a RM1000 non-refundable fee for entrance exam/interview is charged. Parents will also need to fork out RM5000 for registration fee and RM5000 as advance fee. Total amount RM11,000 to be paid before the application is even considered.

Once accepted, the other fees payable are :
1) RM1000 installation fee i.e. welcome pack, smartcard, orientation pack etc
2) RM5000 refundable deposit (refundable upon sufficient notice of withdrawal from school)

Then, there are the tuition fees payable every semester (2 semesters yearly).
For Std 1-3 - RM6300 per semester (does not include books/uniform/stationery/external exam fees. includes food)

There's also the annual fees payable every beginning of school year which amounts to RM1000.

So all that will work out to about RM28K for the first year!
The following year, i estimate it to be about RM15K.
Prices will increase from time to time of course and we have to also consider paying for a 2nd child in the same school in a few years time..... factor that all in and it looks like a huge sum of money!
Now can anyone tell me where can I find a money tree that dispenses RM1000 notes?

15 comments:

cre8tone said...

great list!

Leona said...

I know, it is totally 'crazy' now just to give our kids better education!

Allan said...

GASP..:-0

Think it's time to start a school...:-p

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com said...

We toured an international school open house with my 14-mth old to know more about KL's education options. This is the time when I really miss my Singaporean public schools -- high-quality system yet very affordable.

A Mom's Diary said...

Wow! The first year alone costs about 3x the entire cost of my undergraduate in UM

Anonymous said...

Hi,my son just passed his entrance exam and was offered a place in Standard 1! Yes, the fees are crazy but all things considered, hubby and I believe we made the right decision.
Btw, just fyi, after 2 years i.e. from Yr.2013, the "private" school option is only available in Cempaka Cheras as Cempaka DH will be "internationalised" haha

Is your son there already?

Hui-Wearn said...

congratz to you. in response to your Q, no.... my son is not there. we have decided to homeschool our kids.

Anonymous said...

Hows d homeskol gg now? mind sharing?

Hui-Wearn said...

So far so good - happy with it.

Anonymous said...

Hi hope it's not too late to give reviews for private schools, but I can only give for 2 schools - Sri Kdu & Sri Bestari. I will start with Sri Bestari fees for 2015 range 13k for primary, secondary starting from 16k. Service hmmmm well a lot of heartache that's why most of us left the school,my kids are in Sri Kdu but some of their friends are at Real School and Sapura Smart School.

Bestari for start manage by people who just cant be bothered of your concerns despite you are spending a lot of RMs at their school. Toilets are horrible just like public toilets, parents if you want to review the school my advise is dont go on open day, they will make the school nice for that day only. Surprise them on any ordinary school days. And when we signed up they said got swimming, extra co curricular which is normally done at sri damansara club. Yes this cheapskate school wanna charge high but service hmmm.. anyway 2014 they decided to drop swimming with excuse saying that swimming is optional, but then they gave us leaflets from sri damansara club, you send your kids yourself and u pick them up yourself. So in other words you sign up directly with sri damansara club - nothing got to do with school.

Then for catered food students, catered food is u pay in advance around RM 800 per semester. Many times happened to my kids friends when they want to eat, food already finish, the kakak there will ask u to buy (but parents already pay u know). This is not like a 1 time incident.

Reason they want to increase fees in 2015 so they can upgrade toilets. Well parents till today some of our kids refuse to use the toilets until they get back home. Can u imagine kids holding on till around 4-5pm.

Only good thing about this school probably location and the spacious area (which they are not doing anything much about it).

And of course your refundable fees are not refundable after all if you are not happy with their "service".

Sri Kdu, on the other hand offers more than what we paid for, basically you get good professional teachers, well organised canteen - primary n secondary have their own section. And of course fantastic toilets. Their security is great too, they will monitor every visitor and the school is well equiped with cctv. And their fees is all included for lower primary lunch is provided. My children are happier in kdu. I fact their friends who changed to sapura n real school gave positive reviews on their new schools too.

My advise is to new parents if u want to send your kids to private school, choose a really good one, if you have extra RM dont be hesitant to send your kids to a really good one. I'm sure you work hard for them too. Sometimes we worry to much about future we forget that today is the future that we worried yesterday.

Or else you will end up like me and other parents so irritated by the management of bestari we feel that school is just like any other government schools, in fact some government schools are better.

But these experience made me realised that cheap and good location not necessary the best.

Anonymous said...

I just thought of Sri bestari, came across your post and made me to think twice! Their website looks impressive though!

Anonymous said...

Annoymous, Sri bestari is sht u say?
great, as a senior here in SSB, u dont know the problems

As SRI KDU came into primary service and secondary service.Every year. the percentage going out from SSB is 60-80%
Alright, by this, imagining your customers left 1 buying your stuffs. im sure your company will be barnkrupt soon.
Catering food is RM800. yes, i know.
IF your son is telling you, 'mummy can give me money?i need to buy food tmrw for school'
u paid RM800 for catered , doesnt mean u paid for the food that is selling inside.but, if the price that your son wants to buy is Rm3 below, the canteen will give you free .
Or probably, u are just getting owned by your son , there are hawkers outside the school selling toys,food,drinks. so, probably they gonna go out and buy.
Our service is great. But maybe not suitable for you , because parents now adays are rich. so yeah, not all school are like your house. A better education is not about the service,even if your kid is naughty and u send him to some great school, i guess no changes.
think before you talk here and talk bad of SSB.

Anonymous said...

Currently my child is studying in Sri Bestari and I must admit I have my regrets. Why?

1. Teachers in primary classes are not properly trained and God knows what are their qualifications! Subjects such as Cambridge English or Science and Math using UK syllabus are taught by local teachers who cant even write proper English email. The standard of English proficiency is laughable.Many times, my child would bring back homework without being taught. They skip pages if they don't understand the chapter!!! Parents end up doing the teachers role!!

2. Food served at the canteen are mostly processed food, such as nuggets, sausages .To much oily fried foods. No initiative to serve nutritious and healthy food.

3. Students who score good marks are placed in a better class and given priority. The average students were not given any importance. Double standard

4. Swimming classes and tennis classes were part of the curriculum but were stopped abruptly without any explanation. Wasn't the fee collected inclusive of the swimming lessons? The fee were not reduced though.

5. Fee's are raised every year. Renovated toilets, tablets for teachers were the excuse. How silly is that? Paying extra for renovated toilets? Anyway their toilets are nothing to shout about. I have seen better toilets in Government School!

6. On of the language teacher left because she wasn't paid on time. She was a native speaker of the language and did a great job. Now she is replaced by a local woman who stayed few years in the foreign country! What are her credentials? No one knows!

7. Bestari students fail miserably compared to Government School students. One of my kid's classmate, previously from a Government School scored top marks in the examination. Low standard of education. You should see their test papers! God! its made to make the students pass and yet they only manage to score average marks!

8. Low quality uniforms and sports t-shirts. The t-shirts color fades within few months. They had neck tie a year ago and now they stopped using it. No excuse given.

I am seriously looking for a better school for my child as I feel Sri Bestari is not the right choice and such a waste of money! Many of my childs classmates left for better school. The school is an affordable private school with beautiful surroundings but the management sucks big time! It was better when Mr. Frankland was the head.

Do consider your options. I'd rather fork out extra money if I could get better deal! I spent almost 40-50K already and I feel, I could have saved the money if I sent my kid to a Government School as the standard of Sri Bestari is no where comparable to a Government School in terms of education standard!

RADHA said...

Hi,

Anyone has any comments on Beaconhouse Sri Inai & Asia Pacific International School?

Thank you

RADHA

Anonymous said...

I rest my case looking at the reply from the so called 'senior of ssb', his/her English sucks ...gosh I can't imagine if he or she being a teacher in Sri bestari ...