“ WE KNOW OUR STUDENTS ARE GOING TO BE USING AI, AND NOT ONLY FOR COURSEWORK, BUT IN THEIR DAILY LIFE, SO WE NEED TO TEACH THEM HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY AND HOW TO THINK CRITICALLY.”
ALEJANDRO DELSO SEGOVIA, HEAD OF STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT, SEK EDUCATION GROUP
THE CHALLENGES OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION MARKET IN THE UNITED STATES Pam Mundy, of Pam Mundy Associates, a consultancy to some of the world’s leading school and education groups, says that each market and each country has different challenges and different opportunities. “There is a misconception that the United States
market is too difficult for international or British schools to expand into,” she says. “It is true that legislation is challenging, and that there are some high quality American private schools, both day and boarding, there already. However, the landscape and demographic is changing. Some schools have had a mixed experience there, so it is important to understand the territory you are going into as well as the education opportunities.” She says it is critical to understand what the American
school their own way using the British school brand, and the education group that is investing may already have a lot of experience in teaching and learning. That can sometimes be more successful than using a local partner and can help to derisk the project.” L.E.K. has offices in Bahrain, Riyadh, Dubai, and
Abu Dhabi, and all the schools are currently fully open. Despite political events over the past few months, the number of live projects has not declined, and Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) activity is continuing, he says. Likewise, there are still greenfield projects going ahead across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia. This is part of a larger overall trend where leading
international school brands are pursuing ambitious expansion strategies, forming joint ventures, or directly operating new campuses overseas. British independent schools have been successful in exporting their educational models. Public schools such as Harrow, Wellington, Dulwich and others have developed international networks, capitalising on their globally recognised brands.
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demographic is, state by state, and where families might want a new school, what the legal requirement are, which may also differ according to state. “There are opportunities for British brands, as long as
you go in with the understanding that a renowned brand in the home country may or may not mean something in the US, and that a less well known or more obscure school may have an equal opportunity,” she says. There is definitely room for the smaller and the medium-tier brands, too. Another opportunity that schools don’t always
make the most of is connections with their own alumni who might be working in the territories that they are expanding into. Depending on the career trajectories of such contacts it is always worth tapping into potential networks, partnerships and investment. “What is more, they understand the market, they talk
to each other, and may be parents themselves, and so have an idea of where the market potential is and are aware of emerging markets,” she says. New opportunities have recently been identified in
Texas, particularly Houston which is being hotly tipped as a ‘new Silicon Valley’, and Florida, which is driven by
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