A new report on international education has indicated that the number of international schools in many countries is rising rapidly. The number of English-language K-12 schools including British and American schools overseas and British independent schools abroad, has increased by 41.5 percent in the past five years, according to International School Consultancy research completed in 2016.
The number of students attending international schools is now over 4.3 million worldwide, a 45.9 percent growth in just five years. Asia, including the Middle East, has seen an even sharper growth of 55.7 percent. In fact, Asia now has 54 percent of all international schools and 60 percent of students at these schools.
Popular belief holds that international schools are meant to educate expatriate children of different nationalities. However, most of the students represented by the latest rise in numbers are in their home countries. This means that more families are selecting fee-paying international schools over local public or private schools. The main reasons parents have given for this choice are to enable their children to learn English, to have their children follow a Western style of learning, and to grant their children access to globally recognized qualifications, such as the International Baccalaureate Diploma, U.K. A levels, American SATs, or Advanced Placement credit.