School DAZE AS BOARDING SCHOOLS RISE IN POPULARITY, GLOBAL COMPETITION IS GETTING FIERCE. JOSH SIMS DIVES INTO THE EVOLVING WORLD OF ELITE EDUCATION, WHERE LONG-ESTABLISHED NAMES ARE OPENING SATELLITES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE AND INSTITUTIONS EVERYWHERE ARE TRYING TO CATER TO A GROWING LIST OF NEEDS PHOTO BERND OTT/GALLERY STOCK D avid McBride has mixed feelings about the progress being made by the North American Boarding Initiative. “It’s early days,” says the vice-principal of enrolment management at Upper Canada College in Toronto, one of the country’s most prestigious boarding schools. “We’ll see how it works out.” NABI, as the initiative is known, was launched three years ago in a bid to “better explain the benefits of boarding schools, and to counter some of the myths,” as McBride puts it. “Many parents’ idea of boarding school is 25 years out of date.” This evolution in what a boarding school can and should be is being driven by pressures both local and global, not just in North America but around the world. Increasing attendance has led to a growing number of schools – and school advocacy groups like NABI – which has sparked the competition between institutions to a level never before seen. Since the turn of the millennium, universities have been actors on a global stage: the same is now happening in secondary education. “A lot of schools face the issue of over-reliance on getting students from specific markets, notably China,” explains McBride. A 2015 census found that nearly a fifth of pupils from overseas in British boarding schools were from mainland China, 18% from Hong Kong and 10% from Russia. “Look at the number of schools opening in China and offering a first-rate education. And if the economy in China crashes, there are going to be big problems for a lot of them.” CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 65
