Please respond to the peer’s post: a) Locate the nearest international school the children can attend (it may be in a different country) and briefly describe the school, the curriculum/activities, and compare it to the high school you attended.
If the manager were located in Tokyo, Japan, the closest international school all of the children could attend would be The American School in Japan, located in Tokyo. The school is a private, coed day school, serving students from age 3 to grade 12. The curriculum is similar to a US college prep school, focusing on the “whole child” concept, giving students the opportunity to experience different resources, including leadership, service, theatre, music, dance, as well as cultural exchange. The school’s unique placement in Japan is celebrated through daily Japanese language instruction from grades 1 to 5. High school students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement courses, as well as Global Online Academy courses. The biggest difference between this school and my high schools seems really just to be the added Japanese language courses. My school had music and theatre, as well as the opportunity to take AP courses.
b) What is the estimated annual tuition and fees for all three children to attend this school? Show the breakdown. If the school is in a different city or country, estimate annual boarding costs and transportation costs assuming the kids will come “home” (i.e., to the manager’s host country location) twice a year. Find the total cost to the company, just to meet the educational needs of just this one expat employee. Be sure to convert the final total to US Dollars.
Type of Fee
Yen
Dollars
Application Fee (One-Time)
¥20,000
$155.55
Registration Fee (One-Time)
¥300,000
$2,333.27
Building Maintenance Fee (One-Time)
¥1,025,000
$7,972.00
Capital Assessment Fee (Annual)
¥250,000
$1,944.39
Tuition 2nd Grade
¥2,680,000
$20,843.87
Tuition 7th Grade
¥2,783,000
$21,644.96
Tuition 11th Grade
¥2,830,000
$22,010.50
Transportation (Bus)
¥350,000
$2,722.15
Total
¥10,238,000
$79,626.69
c) Were you familiar with this aspect of international business? Did you know that the US government has an Office of Overseas Schools? Were you surprised with what you learned in this assignment? Provide your comments and opinions.
I was a little familiar with this aspect of international business, as I had a friend in high school that lived abroad while they were in elementary and middle school and attended an international school. However, I was not aware of the Office of Overseas Schools, and while I knew subconsciously that private schools were expensive, I did not know exactly how expensive they could be. It would be essential for a firm to compensate an expat manager by providing an allowance to send their children to a private school. Without that allowance, it would be almost impossible to get managers with children to move abroad, as the annual price to send their children to school is just too high.
References
Tokyo, Japan: The American School in Japan: 2021-2022 Fact Sheet. US Department of State. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/the-american-school-in-japan-fact-sheet/ on April 24, 2022.
