Educational multinationals

It is precisely in Brazil,  the country that has one of the world’s lowest rankings in terms of school performance that large school companies have appeared, that seek to launch students towards the stars: these are the Kroton, SEB, Avenues, Concept or Red House groups. And all in English, as they seek to conquer part of the world market. They are, of course, expensive schools that offer a conversation environment in three languages already in kindergarten. Then, children before the age of 12 will have already attended didactic sessions in Sillicon Valley, or attended classical music concerts in Vienna or Prague…

The demand for schools that respond to today’s world, while at the same time offering a profile of personal training in values and virtues, is practically insatiable, especially in Latin American and Asian countries, where the level of school quality is lower than in Europe. What parents want is for their children to have access to the best universities in the world, in Europe and the USA. Galindo von Kroton is one of the great Brazilian pioneers in this field, who has accumulated an important fortune, until introducing his educational company in the stock market. He estimates that the turnover in schools in Brazil is double that of the high schools. The other Brazilian group analogous to Kroton is GRUPO SEB (Brazilian Educational System).

A few weeks ago, Kroton – before being the nr. 1 company controlling universities -, bought SOMOS, the most important school group in Brazil, for 1.8 billion USD, positioning itself with total assets of 8.5 billion USD as the world’s leading educational multinational, listed on the stock exchange, with an annual turnover of 2.1 billion USD.

The big school business worldwide

The media have devoted little attention to this phenomenon, because they prefer, as always, the bad and the scandalous. According to a study by Banco Itaú, the education multinationals GEMS in Dubai, the COGNITA in Great Britain, INSPIRED in Australia and NORTH ANGLIA EDUCATION in Hong Kong form the front line with the highest potential for future growth.

Just like in the production of a car, the high level school sector causes demands that have to be met from outside the schools as such: publishing houses, teaching materials, educational software, human training, distance education etc.

The profile of the teacher has changed radically: in Brazil, for example, the head of Apple’s training has been taken to a school group, supposedly with a better salary. Moreover, it is not unusual for staff to be sought outside their own country.