International School of Myanmar - Review from February 2017

[nwsbkk]

Let me say first and foremost that the one thing they don’t tell you when you sign on to this school is how sick you will be during your time here.  I can safely say that almost every colleague (myself included) came down with severe stomach pain and other illnesses and missed 3 to 4 times more school than usual. Some of my colleagues got Dengue fever and even suffered from dehydration.

The main reasons for this is that Yangon is not very sanitary overall and you will come into contact with germs and bacteria that you could never imagine in a first world or developing country.

Currently the salaries for overseas hires vary from 2 to 3 thousand dollars a month and the apartment is provided and fully paid for. I took modest vacations around SE Asia and had no problem saving. Travel in Myanmar is very overpriced however and it is not cost effective as packages are often prices in multiples of 1000.

Students here are super good and motivated.  Technology is almost non existent. Students don’t all have laptops so be prepared to lug around tons of worksheets and paper.

Most teachers stay 2 or 3 years and go. I would advise most teachers to not come here simply because of the health issues. There is only 1 modern clinic in Yangon and if you need real help then the only choice is to fly to Bangkok. I did know a teacher who was seriously ill and she had to navigate airports during the extremely painful illness just so she could get to a modern hospital.

Yangon is starting to get more malls/restaurants etc. But you still have to ride in dirty old cabs that may or may not have working air con. Plus all the locals spit their red tobacco juice on the sidewalks and you will constantly step in/ smell that. The city is also a humidity trap. I have been all around the equator in my life but this is the hottest I have ever encountered. Most teachers stay in their apartments while running the a/c. Don’t count on spending much time outdoors.

Last year the board at this school made the outgoing director leave the school in February. Apparently they paid him out on his contract they just didn’t want him coming around the building anymore. With that came a mass exodus of staff and a bunch of broken contracts.

That mess may or may not clean up. But if you are OK with the sanitary conditions of Yangon and want to teach for a few years as if it were the 1970’s then this school will do fine. I will say it again. Some of the best students you will ever encounter.