Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:47 pm-
Hi there,
There are a number of schools in Doha that should be fine for your son but in answer to your question, yes, it IS difficult to find spots. Most of the schools will also ask for a non-refundable registration fee so if you plan to apply to all the schools in the hopes of getting a spot in any one of thm, you could well be looking at forking out about US$1,000 just on the registration fees. That said, I am fairly certain that they will reimburse the fee if they are the ones who turn you down due to lack of space.
In terms of the schools themelves, there's Choueifat which is a good school but it's tough. I know, I was a student in a Choueifat school and I've worked in one too. It's a long day, there's a LOT of homework and ther are a LOT of exams. But, frankly, at the end of the day, the kids do get a good education. Although, personally, I find that parents need to be fairly strong of character because the management of these schools generally behaves as though the parents are insignificant. But then it will also depend a great deal on the director you happen to have in the school in Doha. You should also check out the GEMS school in Doha. I'm not personally familiar with GEMS but I hear they are doing very well.
Also, there's always the American School.
Hope this helps a little at least.
Best of luck.