International school fees and scholarships

[IloveJapan]

Hello everyone,
A while back I wrote a question about international schools’ cost/performance - thank you to everyone who wrote back.
I’ve looked on numerous sites of these schools, and my conclusion is that when you factor in not just fees (2 million and rising) but other ad-hoc costs like trips, activities, the total would come to an whopping annual 3 million or so. Not something I could ever afford. I am a hum-drum, average-paid salaryman, probably getting paid much less than many on the forum.

I’d like to ask: Many schools seem to indicate availability of scholarships, BUT they give very few details of eligibility. Does anyone here know what kind of income requirements there would be? And do they take account of just income, or assets too? I kind of feel I am not dirt poor, in the sense that I can buy food, pay rent etc., but maybe I am not poor enough for these kinds of scholarships, so caught in the middle, kind of?

Also, once a school starts giving such a scholarship do they often deprive you of it the next year (if say grades are bad)? Or do they tend to continue paying till you graduate (unless something monstrously bad happens).

I know we all want the best for our children, but I do wonder what kind of sacrifices other families make - do they live very spartan lives, become teetotalers (chance would be a fine thing, judging by the rugby fans I‘ve seen around me!), retire to a monastery (sorry, I couldn’t resist that one!)

Look forward to your reply