No dedicated international or bilingual K-12 school currently operates in Sal itself — documented foreign-curriculum schools in Cape Verde (Colégio Internacional - Cabo Verde and École Internationale Les Alizés) are located in Praia, not Sal. Content below reflects the realistic options and process foreign families in Sal actually face.
Good to know
Good to Know
- If English-medium schooling is a hard requirement, Sal is genuinely limited: as of current information there is no formal English-curriculum school on the island, so most English-speaking families use online schooling, part-time attendance at the French/Cape Verdean school, or boarding school abroad.
- The one international school on the island (EIS, in Murdeira) is small — around 50 students — which some families value for individualized attention but which also means limited grade-level peer groups, especially at secondary level.
- Because published tuition figures were not available online, budget-conscious families should contact the school directly for a current fee schedule before committing to relocation.
- If you're picturing a French, British, American, or IB international school for your kids in Sal, it doesn't currently exist — the closest documented foreign-curriculum schools are in Praia, on a different island.
- Most expat/nomad families in Cape Verde who want a non-Portuguese curriculum go the distance-learning or homeschooling route rather than a physical international school.
- Cape Verde does legally permit homeschooling, but it requires declaring your intent to local education authorities and meeting minimum educational standards — it isn't a completely unregulated free-for-all.
- There's no known organized homeschooling parent group or co-op in Sal itself, so plan on going it alone or connecting with other remote families informally (e.g., via general expat Facebook groups) rather than expecting a ready-made local network.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Sal island has only one genuine international/bilingual school with a formal, accredited curriculum. There is no English-medium international school with a formal curriculum on the island.
Schools
Escola Internacional De Sal / ÉCole Internationale De Sal (EIS)
- Founded
- 2009, established by a parent association
- Location
- Murdeira, Sal (between Espargos Airport and Santa Maria)
- School Size
- Approximately 50 students, allowing small class groups.
- Source Basis
- expat-focused relocation guide (jarniascyril.com), Expat.com forum thread specific to Sal, and the school's own Facebook page.
- Languages Of Instruction
- Described by the school's own Facebook page as a trilingual international school; other sources describe French and Portuguese as the two working languages.
Tuition
- Status
- Not publicly disclosed
- Note
- No published fee schedule was found; tuition is provided by the school directly on inquiry. Do not assume figures without confirming with the school.
Curricula Offered
- French national curriculum, accredited by AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad)
- Cape Verdean national curriculum (homologated)
Notable Gaps
- No formal English-curriculum (American/British/IB) school exists on Sal as of current research; families seeking Anglo-Saxon curricula typically rely on distance/online learning, sometimes combined with part-time attendance at EIS, or send children to boarding schools abroad.
- Colégio International and other named Portuguese-curriculum private schools referenced in general Cape Verde school guides are located in Praia (Santiago island), not Sal, and are out of scope for this city.
- An entity called 'English Development Centre (EDC)' markets itself as evolving into Cape Verde's first English international school, but its physical base and confirmed operating location were not verified as being on Sal, so it is not listed here as a Sal-based option.
Enrollment And Homeschooling
- Local Homeschooling Community In Sal
- No documented homeschooling co-op, support group, or in-person meetup specifically based in Sal was found. Do not assume one exists — foreign families currently appear to homeschool independently or via distance-learning providers rather than through an organized local group.
- Enrollment Process And Waitlists Caveat
- Because there is no dedicated international/bilingual school physically in Sal, there is no meaningful local waitlist or application-timeline data to report for Sal specifically. Families wanting a Praia-based foreign-curriculum school, or a school abroad, should expect to apply well ahead of the academic year and directly contact that specific school for its own document requirements (birth certificate, prior school records, immunization records, and passport/visa copies are typical for this region), rather than relying on a Sal-based admissions process that does not exist.
- International Bilingual School Availability In Sal
- No standalone international or bilingual school (in the sense of a French, British, American, or IB-curriculum campus) is documented as operating in Sal. The two named foreign-curriculum schools identified for Cape Verde as a whole — a Portuguese-curriculum school and a French school — are located in Praia, on a different island, not within or near Sal.
Homeschooling Legality Cape Verde
- Status
- Legal with conditions
- Summary
- Cape Verde authorizes homeschooling under certain conditions, including declaration to local educational authorities and meeting minimum standards.
- Curriculum Practice
- Facing the lack of local international school options, many expat families in Cape Verde opt for homeschooling or distance learning rather than a bricks-and-mortar international school, following their home country's curriculum while resident in the country.
Distance Learning Programs Used By Expats
CNED (French National Distance Learning Center)
- Detail
- Offers complete programs from kindergarten through high school, with coursework delivered online.
Other English-language Options
- Detail
- International Virtual School, Wolsey Hall Oxford, and various American homeschooling curricula are also used by expat families in Cape Verde, though specific pricing for these was not verified for this report.
Realistic Options For Foreign Families In Sal
- Enroll children in a local Cape Verdean public school, where instruction is in Portuguese and the academic calendar/curriculum follows the national system rather than an international one.
- Use a distance-learning or home-curriculum program while based in Sal, since dedicated foreign-curriculum schooling is not available locally.
- Some longer-term expat families relocate school-age children to Praia (where the country's two foreign-curriculum schools exist) or send them to boarding/international schools abroad, though this was not something we could verify as a common or documented pattern specifically for Sal families.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.