To Indian parents with kids in US or English Curr schools - a slightly sensitive question

simpleasabc If you don't mind, can you share with me the reasons for you wanting to do IB Primary and US/UK Secondary? Sorry, I've just seen this post, I don't often come to the "other" boards! OK, these are personal reasons which pertain to my daughter, not to everyone. I'm a huge fan of the IB system and love the idea of a sort of universally recognized Diploma, which gives freedom of movement to students from all over the world. It teaches children to think for themselves and to do research and to apply different criteria to the different subjects, each subject doesn't exist in isolation from the others. It seems to me (though I have no personal experience of it) to be a great foundation for learning for children of primary age. The MYP seems to lose its way a bit, from what I understand, and is perhaps a bit vague in its focus and aims. As far as I am aware, it is different again for the last two years. If my daughter were more academic, I would have no qualms about her doing the Diploma now, but her brain function is such that it is better suited to the British Curriculum, as she would have to encompass fewer subjects, in less depth, and have to work a lot less hard than she will have to for the next two years of the Diploma (or, to put it another way, she's lazy). On the plus side, if she manages to get good enough marks to get into University, she will be at least a year ahead of the game, apparently, as the IB Diploma prepares pupils in a different way for studying at university level. I hope this makes sense :)

simpleasabc If you don't mind, can you share with me the reasons for you wanting to do IB Primary and US/UK Secondary?

lol simple, if things go well and jobs are intact, then yes we hope to be here for the long haul. Lots of families make a life for 10,15 or 20 years and I hope we are one of them. Why not right? But I do think pat dxb has had a nice idea, of switching to IB curriculum in middle years. If its affordable to me in later years then its definitely a good option. I'd do it the other way round, myself! Primary Years IB, later years British or US curriculum. Good luck for the long haul!

Gosh, Seven Seconds, do you anticipate still being here in 12 years' time? (Did I not see your daughter is just 4?) I think the DIA's fees are not outrageous for an IB curriculum school, though. If you haven't already, check out this website to make a comparison with US and British curriculum schools: http://www.dubaifaqs.com/schools-dubai.php

On the GEMS website it mentions a jump from 47,000 in KG2 to 65,000 in upper years. Are your kids attending DIA simpleasabc? however its a bit of stretch for me even at 57,000. My daughter (only child) has been at the DIA this year. She is going elsewhere next year. The DIA has been the wrong place for her in conjunction with our arrival in Dubai and she needs to re-focus in a different school. <em>edited by simpleasabc on 29/04/2011</em>

No problem at all, pat_dxb. You could safely send him to a BC school until age 16 and then change to the IB Diploma. I have heard quite a few people suggest that the Primary years IB curriculum is of vastly more benefit to children than the Middle Years programme of the IB. I couldn't comment.

Will it be possible for me to send DS to a British curriculum school in the primary years and then move him to an IB school like DIA in the middle years? Or will there be issues of year loss, not being able to cope with curriculum changes etc.?

DIA... Dont the fees go upto Dhs. 65,000 annually in later years? Thats way out of my budget. Their fees start at AED 32170 pa for KG1. Years 12 and 13 (IB Diploma years) are currently AED57000 pa and their fees are not increasing next year.

I'm not sure if this has been said already, but I think that a lot of times a group of a particular nationality may "stick together" at lunch or recess simply because they can all converse in their mother tongue and relate to each other. Not necessarily to exclude other kids. Although my son has always been around people of all different nationalities, he's never been in a situation where the students didn't speak English as a 1st language. So although he is Japanese, he actually doesn't sit with the Japanese group at recess/lunch because he doesn't speak Japanese. He hangs out with the kids that speak English as a first language (which coincidentally is quite a multi-national group). Yeap and this happen at workplaces all the times too. When I first arrive, I tried to integrate with various nationalities but in the end give up as they always speak in their mother tongue and completely left me out in their conversation. So, I just stick to english speaking colleagues or friends ;) No racism just sticking to what they are familiar with.

The only race related issue my youngest has ever encountered at school was in the UK !!! lol (so far....)

Sevenseconds - mail me at [email protected]. Cant reveal much in a public forum.

Of course, good point, Gleeky. BTW, I'm afraid I won't be becoming a UAS parent next year, we've decided it's too far away for us.

Thanks for asking the question sevenseconds :).... I have spent days thinking about this ... now that DS would be joining a school which is predominantly British / westerners and he is a skinny little chap. I was worried about being bullied too. I have cousins who are in Canada and Australia (migrated in the middle of school years from India) and have studied in schools which were obviously full of Canadians and Australians. They have even managed to get Canadian and Australian girlfriends / boyfriends ;) .... So there it is ... if they can.... so can our kids :) All that we as parents need to do is be there for our kids. <em>edited by hiccup on 28/04/2011</em>

I am struck by the coincidence - my daughter is presently having problems with her peer group and when I dropped her off this morning, I asked her why she didn't sit with so and so in class and at lunch, because I know they get on. She answered, very matter of fact: "I can't sit with her, she's in a group with all the other Indian girls", (understood, they don't want *me*, a white girl, to mix with them..) This is an IB school, though :) I'm not sure if this has been said already, but I think that a lot of times a group of a particular nationality may "stick together" at lunch or recess simply because they can all converse in their mother tongue and relate to each other. Not necessarily to exclude other kids. Although my son has always been around people of all different nationalities, he's never been in a situation where the students didn't speak English as a 1st language. So although he is Japanese, he actually doesn't sit with the Japanese group at recess/lunch because he doesn't speak Japanese. He hangs out with the kids that speak English as a first language (which coincidentally is quite a multi-national group).

Am sorry to hijack your thread SevenSeconds, but am in a similar dilemma. I'm of Indian origin as well and want to send DS to Jebel Ali Primary, which is a British curriculum school that caters to a predominantly white British community. The school has been given rave reviews on these forums as well as by some other mums I've talked to, hence my choice. However, am very worried about the racial discrimination/bullying aspect. Does anyone on here have any feedback on the same? Have they experienced/heard of such? And my input to the OP's original question is, I have had Pakistani friends move their daughters from JESS AR to Repton, because of the racial discrimination they faced at JESS.

I also always wondered about racism in general here in Dubai schools. Lots of interesting points here.

All I can suggest you do is chose the school you feel best about in your heart. Then give your child the tools to live in it. And don't yourself ever be one of these parents, when you point out differences to her she will justify what the others are saying as the right thing to do (such as pointing out that that girl has it easy because she's British etc.). It's simply the lesson of teaching your child how to overcome any form of bullying or discrimination, and allowing them to know that they are not the problem. This could be by introducing them to someone who they respect and admire from the social group they are in that is being bullied (not their parent, though) - then they will see that everyone can be great and with their own mind they will beat the bullies - and that lesson will last for life. There may not be a sign of bullying or discrimination at all though. Very Very well put, Amy!

My Children are at a BC school and have friends of many nationalities - and yes they may describe someone as having brown skin, but that is coz quite literally it's what they see. They might describe someone else as having orange hair! However, we have had chocolate coins in a red envelope at Chinese new year, fans from Korea, as well as lots of other celebrations that were brought to our children by their classmates and they've enjoyed it. I do believe as others said the nasty stuff can only stem from the parents as children just don't know how. My only thought is on the decision between the cirriculums. We chose BC as we felt that if we ever leave here it will most probably be to return to the Uk and therefore we needed the children to be doing the same in school as there to ensure a smooth tranistion if necessary. On the other hand I have a friend from the UK who is married to a lebonese man and whilst they may leave Dubai, it's unlikely they will return to the uK so they chose an IB school to give them the best options. There are obviously BC schools all around the world, but maybe it's just another angle to look at and I hope I haven't confused things more.

I am struck by the coincidence - my daughter is presently having problems with her peer group and when I dropped her off this morning, I asked her why she didn't sit with so and so in class and at lunch, because I know they get on. She answered, very matter of fact: "I can't sit with her, she's in a group with all the other Indian girls", (understood, they don't want *me*, a white girl, to mix with them..) This is an IB school, though :)

I am not indian but would just like to say that my children have all nationalities as their friends. Their bestfriends group consists of australians, indians, english and lebanese. I actually don't think racism comes from the children themselves but unfortunately from what they hear from their parents. Luckily these parents are few and far between.

i am from pakistan and my DS who is 5 y.o. goes to a school where most of his classmates are arabs ... during the first year he had a friend from india and they were inseprable but he moved back to india this year and my DS was left with mostly arab class fellows ... early this year he told me that one of his classmates called him 'hindi bacha' and then the rest of the class started to chant it and he was very hurt ... naturally i was extremely worried ... i really didnt know what to say to him but just told him to make some friends as it seemed that he had no friends or group etc ... throughout the first term there were 3-4 different occasions when this happened but then he made some friends and i started spending more time with him doing school activites etc and gradually things worked out ... after the first term ended i met with his teacher and at the end of the meeting i mentioned the problem to her without making a big fuss out of it as she is an arab too and i didnt want to offend her ... she was extremely upset after hearing this and said that i will talk to the class as i hate to hear this and its really sad that one of the children in her class had to face such racism ... there hasnt been anymore complains eversince .... i think its better if children face it and learn how to deal with it rather than us shelter them all the time ... but yes it can be different for every kid

My daughter is 5- I live in Abu dhabi. Am Indian. We have faced 2 instances of 'colour'- from the children- children of arab-australian descent who said she was brown skinned and so couldn't touch them. Has been handled well by the school at the childrens' level but I regretted that I have not been put in touch with the parents where I could talk to them directly. Shes a sunny friendly child, who's brushed it off- in Bahrain, my friends who send their children to a British school have told me their kids are frequently referred to as 'curry' or ' ásia' and have learned to deal with it, though are hurt initially and reject all things Indian in order to be accepted.. which is of course sad.. I think kids can be very cruel and it is a very sensitive issue as no parent is going to come up and say: Hey, its not a big deal if my/someone elses child refused to play with yours because they are brown. All parents will say"OMG, thats not done.. Children do bully- they learn to a large extent from home and then from peers- who learn it from home again.. We can afford quality education for our child and hence have to put up with the cons. I hope i made sense- and my intention was not to offend, but state as it is. Its difficult, but your child has to learn that white alone is not beautiful- the tough way..

When my children were young they attended a very small International School in Australia - it was small but very diverse. They had no idea that such a blend of cultures and differences in skin tone, etc wasn't the way it was everywhere. We moved briefly to the US - and I searched out a school that had a diverse population as well for them...but wouldn't you know there was one little girl that latched on instantly to my daughter because she was "American" like her (actually, she's Canadian...but the point was she wasn't Asian, African American, or Hispanic). That little girl's family actually moved to different house to be zoned to a school that had more Caucasians in it and she actually told my daughter "you should move here too, there are more white people"....needless to say, that was one friendship that I didn't endorse or encourage. I have blond haired, fair eyed children of European decent...but it was also VERY important to me to have my children at a diverse/multicultural school when we came here as well. We don't drag these poor kids all around the world only to have them interact strictly or predominantly with other Canadian or Americans. We decided on Dubai American Academy - there are over 80 nationalities represented at the school and they really promote their "Culture of Kindness" initiative. We are very pleased there. Such a welcoming environment and both my children have a diverse group of friends. I agree with the others that say especially at your daughter's young age, most kids don't even spot the differences between them until they are pointed out by others (unfortunately usually adults). I think it is impossible to predict whether your child will ever experience intolerance at school, but I think in general kids benefit from a diverse environment - it just makes for a more enriching experience, I think. Good luck...such tough decisions when we want to do what's best for our children.

We're not Asian but our daughter goes to a British Curriculum school with children from 43 different nationalities. I've never witnessed nor heard about any racism from the children and it seems that all the children play together. My daughter talks about all the children in her class as her friends. I think at that age, children "judge" others by their behaviour not by their appearance. A lovely approach that could teach some adults a few lessons!