International education: the inside track
Spring’s international education conferences were full of insights into current education and schooling issues that will be invaluable to HR, relocation professionals and relocating families.
Jerudong International School
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Robert Senior argued that, in the current climate, inspirational leadership was desperately needed to bring about transformational change in business and education.Having himself attended two international schools, the British School in the Netherlands and Sevenoaks School, in Kent, he believed they prepared him well for life in today’s world. A large part of this, he explained, was that international schools challenged the rules and widened horizons; learning with children from a variety of countries encouraged pupils to accept differences more freely.Experiencing the transient nature of an international school’s population and the mix of many different cultures and languages is enormously beneficial to young people in a fast-change world.Mr Senior urged his audience to be innovative, using a quote from Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer: “If we don’t transform our business, we’ll all be Ubered.”Explaining his thoughts on fundamental change, Robert Senior said that revolution started with language, and he argued that a mission statement needed to go beyond the ‘what’ to an aspirational level. Educationalists had a wonderful leadership opportunity to aim high and to encourage their pupils to maximise their potential, he added. View our video interview with Robert Senior.Colin Bell, CEO of COBIS, continued the theme, urging educators to share a commitment to transforming children’s lives. “The fast-paced, unpredictable and ever-changing world that we live in,” he said, “requires educators to share a determination and commitment to transform the lives of children and young people worldwide, regardless of their ability or personal circumstances.”Mr Bell also highlighted the new COBIS Patron’s Accreditation and Compliance scheme, a school improvement and external validation system launched on 1 April as part of a rigorous assessment of quality for international British schools worldwide. This should prove extremely valuable to relocating parents selecting appropriate schools, and for the employers and relocation professionals supporting their moves. View our video interview with Colin Bell.Into the future
Mark Steed, director of Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS), in Dubai, highlighted the growing problem of supply and demand of schooling worldwide. He explained that 263 million children were not in school and there was a desperate global shortage of teachers, highlighting the alarming statistic that 28 per cent of physics lessons in the UK were not taught by a qualified physics teacher.Mr Steed looked to the future of international education, believing that for-profit education would become the pattern – education being offered at three price points (premium, mid-range and budget) according to preferences such as class size, facilities, and teachers’ qualifications.He predicted that being taught by a specialist teacher in a classroom would become a luxury, with budget education being taught entirely online, and that virtual technology headsets could enable students to experience a classroom lesson through video conferencing. Robots would increasingly be used as teaching assistants. View our video interview with Mark Steed.
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International education in APAC
At the International and Private Schools Education Forum’s (IPSEF) Asia conference, held in Kuala Lumpur in March, educationalists and investors gathered to explore development prospects, best practice, and the challenges of supporting students, teachers and local economic policy in the fast-growing East and Southeast Asia region.IPSEF co-founder Rhona Greenhill, citing data from the latest ISC Research report, said that the number of international schools in East Asia had grown from 828 in 2013 to 1,125 this year, an increase of 32 per cent. Over the same period, Southeast Asia had recorded 39 per cent growth in international schools, from 725 to 1,008.“We see a lot of growth potential in this part of the world for private and international schools, mainly as a result of the continued growth of the economies in East and Southeast Asia,” Ms Greenhill added.From the figures, it’s clear that Southeast Asia dominates the list of countries with the highest number of premium English-medium international schools in the greater East Asia region. But what does this mean for employers and relocating families? The sheer volume of schools can be bemusing, and even misleading.Most of these schools are catering for the local population, often the rising middle class with strong aspirations for education as a passport to the best universities and career prospects for their children. Only a small percentage cater for the expatriate population.Schools typically have a 70–80 per cent local intake. However, it is the standard of the school and the quality of the education that are most important. Employers and parents should be guided by factors such as accreditations and membership of bodies like COBIS and the Council of International Schools (COIS). They should also check out safety policies and compliance.Curriculum will obviously be a guiding factor, from the International Baccalaureate (IB) to International GCSE (IGCSE), and from A Level to the American, French and German systems. This is largely a matter of parental choice.