UAE World Leader for International Schools
According to recent research by the International Schools Consultancy (ISC), the UAE has the highest number of English language international schools in the world.
The UAE currently has 511 English language international schools. China comes in second with 480 schools, Pakistan third with 439 and India with 411 followed a close fourth. However, the Middle East and Africa were noted as showing a positive 'growth trajectory' with the second highest total of schools after Asia (1616).
The highest geographical number are in Asia with a total of 4346 English language schools.
Arab countries performed particularly well in the research with Saudi Arabia in fifth place with 245 schools, in ninth place Egypt (183) and Qatar with 152 in fifteenth place.
Rhona Greenhill, co-founder, International and Private Schools Education Forum (IPSEF) said recently, “the education landscape in the Middle East and South Asia is changing very rapidly. Only last February, there were 505 schools in the UAE, and that number has increased by 6. This kind of commitment to developing the education sector is prevalent in the region, where economic progress in recent years have put the spotlight on education as a key factor for future progress.”
WhichSchoolAdvisor.com's head of consultancy, Lyn Soppelsa, was quoted on a related story in The National newspaper as to the reasons why.
“It would be unlikely families would come to the UAE if there were no private schools," she told the newspaper. "The more able a country is in addressing the need, the more easily it will be able to bring in the best and brightest from around the world, adding "cities around the world are competing for labour and expertise...
Quality schooling was one of the first things expatriates look for." More here.
