Choices for Malaysian parents:

• National schools, where the medium of instruction is Malay
• Chinese- and Tamil-language national schools
• Islamic schools, both government-backed and privately-run
• Private schools with national-school syllabus
• International schools with foreign syllabus

There are currently 40 international schools in the country. About one-third of the estimated 15,000 students enrolled are Malaysians.

At least 20 more international schools are scheduled to open soon.

In Singapore:

There are 27 international schools, which do not include kindergartens and supplementary schools.

Singaporean parents have to seek the Ministry of Education's approval to enrol their children in international schools.

Approval is given only for exceptional reasons, such as when the child has lived abroad for a long time.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.