Looking for school in Goa

Hi,

We're thinking of coming to spend some time (hopefully a few years) in Goa. As a 1st step, I'm coming for two weeks to check it out - 1-15/July/05.

I'm looking for a school / kindergarten for 5, 4 and two year old kids. Something that would make the move to India easier for western kids (and would be acceptable for my wife's standards :-)

Any references or advice?

Thanks,
Amir

Which part of Goa would you be interested in living? Are you going to be working for a locally based company?

I have my Internet based business, so I can live anywhere I like, where I can get connected. Haven't been to India, and I'm going myself first (without the family) to look around.

Any ideas where I should visit?

Thanks,
Amir

Yes, make a visit to India before making any decision. Considering the fact that you have an internet based business you will have to keep in mind that Internet connectivity in Goa is not very good. The situation is better in Mumbai and Bangalore but expect to pay at least $100/month for a decent connection which will still be quite slow as compared to what you will get in your country.

Are you an Indian citizen? If you are a foreign national there are certain rules and restrictions with which you will have to comply. To stay and work on a long term basis you will have to have a letter of employment from a company which is based in India. Check with the Indian embasssy in your home country.

I thought things in India were cheap..

Not broadband.

Here are the broadband rates for Mumbai. Outrageous prices I must say.
http://www.tataindicombroadband.com/...re-mumbai.html

You're right, it's a bit high - but I can tolerate it.
Just hope that it actually works.

I'm not an Indian citizen (actually, Israeli). From what I gather, I guess I'll either have to go in-and-out of the country every 6 months, or setup a business in India. Let's see if I like it first

Thanks,
Amir

I am going to differ with your statement here and here are my reasons ...

1. I have 2 internet connections i.e margao/calangute from Sify (Broadband) with 64-256KBPS speed, and Tata Indicom wireless net 64-128KBps.

2. Cost of Connections and Charges as follows:
a. Sify: Rs 2,500/- installation and prepaid unlimited packs from Rs 699/- onwards
b. Tata Indicom : Rs 1,000 for phone which also is yr modem, Rs 1,500 unlimted net or 40 paise per minute which ever you may need.

Speeds are excellent and downtimes..well there has not been one for months.
If i can watch video at http://tv.reuters.com without any breaks you can say thats preety good huh !

Other Options:
Reliance Infocom: Rs 1,500/-p.m or 40p per minute
BSNL broadband (yet to start) : Rs 500/-p.m unlimited

Cheers !

Ambert, the speeds that you mention are not in my view broadband speeds. 64-128 kb/s is hardly fast for a person running a web based business where time is money. Consider the fact that out here in Vancouver for just approx. Rs 1000/month one get 3Mb/s download speed with 30GB data transfer/month. To get a similar offering in India one would have to pay Rs 10000 for a measly 12 GB/month data transfer with a download speed of just 512Kb/s. I shall be setting up a business in Goa later this year and one of my biggest headaches is the high price of broadband. Can't run a server on 128kb/s.

Actually, my server sits in US, near most of the customers and provides them with pretty good service from there. I just need the operator's console, and that can be significantly slower (although 128K/sec is a bit slow for that too).

A friend of my had setup a wireless broadband service near Delhi. Maybe, sometime in the future it's possible to do the same in other places too.

GoanCanuck, where in Goa are you going to live?

Amir

Amir, looks like I am going to be in Margao or Mapusa. Margao is better from a business standpoint but Mapusa is good because of its proximity to Vagator and Arambol.

Agreed guys ! Look from download speeds between 2-4kbps/sec for almost 5 years to 10-20kbps/sec now is a huge jump for India and we are getting there. Sure you cant run a webserver at 128, but then who uses servers based in India ?
Besides being a Dentist what few people know is that I used to run 2 internet cafes, a computer hardware trading firm, and also a part time webmaster. I have seen the net in the stage of infancy in Goa where u needed to use a dialup modem and it took u 20 tries to connect and at that time the charges were 3$ an hour ..today its even 20 cents an hour.

Yes compared to you guys in the west ..this speed sucks... wonder if Amir has this kind of line in Israel ? BTW what kinda web based business do u run Amir

I don't have school aged children any more, but I know plenty of people who do. There are several 'Western' style schools run by Westerners, particularly for younger kids, but as they get to teenage then I think it gets more difficult. One thing is for sure, you won't be alone. There are plenty of Westerners who are resident in Goa and raising kids there, so there are plenty of precedents. However I'm not that the monsoon is the best time to go as many of the people who live there most of the year have gone up North or back to Europe for a few months. Just my humble opinion.
AnnieG

Sorry Amir, we never seem to have given you any suggestions regards the school your looking for ..went on a tangent regards yr business..

Okay here are some good options :

1. Manovikas High School Margao Goa..one of South Goa's top Schools..also the most expensive in the locality. Excellent facilities, individual attention to the kids. A friend of mine who came to Goa with his family for a year put both his kids in that school and said that the education standards were higher than Toronto for the same age/standard of the child.

2. Sharda Mandir , Miramar Panjim. Based on the same educational standards as Manovikas H.S..same facilities and the most expensive school in Goa.

Sorry could not find any links for more information though i can get you addresses and telephone numbers for this institue