Benefits of Attending an International School

What are your thoughts on international schools? Does attending international schools give you more benefits? Is it truly worth the high tuition fees?

An international school provides an international education and environment, both for local students (sometimes with foreign passports) interested in foreign education, and for expatriates living outside of their home countries. There are many advantages of attending an international school. One is that these schools accept people of different nationalities to promote a welcoming, safe multi-ethnic environment. Sophomore Sean P. stated, “When I moved to AISG a few years ago, I was nervous about fitting in, but the community was so welcoming. Many people were really nice and helped me while I was adjusting to the new environment.”

International schools give students an opportunity to appreciate different cultures. Being able to learn about the world through socializing with people of different cultures first-hand is very beneficial. These experiences will allow students to work with people from diverse backgrounds in the future. According to a study by Morayo O. Akinkugbe, a college graduate from Bowling Green State University, many students that have attended international schools have reported that studying with students of different cultures helped them better appreciate the world.

Additionally, in most international schools, students learn foreign languages in greater depth with native-speaking teachers. Although English is the main language, many international schools provide classes such as Mandarin, Spanish, and French. Being bilingual can be helpful in one’s future as it opens up more job opportunities, as many companies seek bilingual employees. Communication in the office is important, especially for international organizations, which is why bilingualism is a high priority. Also, it’s important that their employees are bilingual as it allows them to expand globally at a faster pace. The ability to speak two or more languages gives you an advantage, especially in fields like international business, journalism and translation.

Attending an international helps students make friends with people from all around the world. This can also be beneficial for your career, because you will have contacts internationally. You will also have friends all over the world that you can catch up with while you travel.

Many international schools have a wide variety of extracurricular activities in comparison to local schools. These activities, ranging from golf to robotics, give students time to learn and develop important skills aside from academics. Students learn more about themselves through their participation. Sophomore Kathleen W. told me, “I had some exposure to robotics in middle school, but I wasn’t sure if it was really for me. I convinced myself to try joining the Robotics team. Although I was skeptical, I turned out enjoying robotics and is one of my favorite hobbies.” Extracurricular activity times are great for socializing, also.

Sophomore Ciro W., who has been at a local and an international school stated, “I believe attending an international school has its benefits. Ever since I moved to AISG, I have been able to learn more about myself through the variety of extracurricular activities.”

Also, teaching staff in international schools are usually more willing to help the students. Senior Eagle C. stated, “The teaching staff in local schools aren’t as involved compared to international schools. In AISG, counselors occasionally set up meetings to see how students are doing.”

Of course, there’s another side to this story: in some places, the local perception of international schools is that the education they offer isn’t challenging enough, especially in comparison to local schools. Although in the U.S., public education has the reputation for being academically lax, this is definitely not the case in Asian countries like Korea, China, and India (source). In these places, the schedules of students in local schools tend to be more stressful, especially in boarding schools, as students have many more classes. Classes are usually shorter, so there are often 7 to 8 classes a day, which means you have more homework. Also, students usually don’t have a free block to work on homework or relieve stress by relaxing. In certain cases, students even have to attend classes at night. This is very different from international schools, as for us the school day ends at around 3 unless you participate in extracurricular activities, which focus on different skills, and don’t usually require continued mental exertion.

It’s true that local schools can be more intense than international schools, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of education is better. Junior Gabriel K. stated, “As a student who was at a Korean local school from 6th to 8th grade, I think it is true that the level of competition there is much higher than international schools. In Asia, local school students tend to be less privileged and coming from a relatively poorer background than international school students, so then they study with a traditional Asian mindset that studying is the only way to succeed. But then the funny thing is the education quality itself is not that great for local schools. Asian local school students are usually smart and good at studying not because their school provides great education but because they work indefatigably on their own outside of school.” Students in local schools usually don’t have the same advantages as a student attending an international school, which is why they tend to have the drive to study harder and get better grades, because getting into a good university can create many more opportunities for one to succeed in life. If these same students attended international schools like ours, they would likely succeed at the same or even higher levels.

There are instances where local schools will have a high quality of education, but the majority of local schools tend to lack in education quality compared to international schools, at least from the perspective of those of us who attend an international school.

What do you think? As a student that attends an international school, is it worth it?