STEM soars in popularity for students in Middle East, Nord Anglia data reveals

The international institution is the world’s leading premium schools organisation, with 73 schools across 30 countries.

Nord Anglia Education’s [NAE] students have shown more interest in Science, Tech, Engineering, and Mathematics [STEM] courses between the months of April and June, according to the institutions latest global figures.

The data collected by NAE’s team in the Middle East concluded that STEM courses are twice as popular in comparison to data collected last year from the same period, with 57% of students enrolled at the institution opting for such subjects this year, while 23% did so in 2020.

“The positive impact that digital learning has had on our students in not only evident in their outstanding results during a challenging year, but also their success in the real world beyond our classrooms as global citizens,” said NAE’s Regional Managing Director in Southeast Asia and the Middle East Shaun Williams.

NAE’s top 10 learning activities featured six STEM courses, including “Space Sustainability”, developed in collaboration with the world’s top university Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] to challenge students to become young innovators who create thoughtful solutions while promoting sustainable space exploration.

The data highlights that 1 in 2 students [48%] opted for courses centred on developing creativity while nearly a third of students [30%] chose global citizenship activities to learn more about sustainable social impact.

Meanwhile 1 in 5 [20%] of NAE’s students took part in wellbeing activities with yoga as one of the most popular online courses.

In total, NAE witnessed a 120% increase in Global Campus’ users every year.

“Across our schools we know that education technology is a powerful tool to empower teachers to bring learning to life and inspire students whether in the classroom or online,” said Dr. Elise Ecoff, Group Director of Education at NAE.

NAE’s latest figures are based on students’ co-curricular activities on Global Campus – the institution’s online learning platform used by 67,000 students in 30 countries.

Global Campus is NAE’s exclusive online learning platform, designed by educational experts to provide rich, diverse learning materials and resources that complement school curricula.

The designers of the platform collaborated with leading institutions, including The Juilliard School, MIT and UNICEF to provide students with a holistic learning experience which they can take outside of the classroom and far beyond their screens.

In June, NAE embarked on a three-year global partnership with UNICEF, turning students into change-makers within their own communities, key principles that lie at the core of the organisation’s mission.

Designers ensured that Global Campus’ content develop critical skills such as creativity, problem solving and communication.

“With Global Campus, developed by our team of educational experts, we have created a rich mix of engaging learning materials that complement schools’ curricula and encourage students to discover, explore and collaborate with their global classmates,” added Ecoff.

Founded in 1972 in the United Kingdom, initially offering learning services such as English-as-a-foreign-language [ESOL] classes, NAE began expanding its operations in 1992 by opening its first international school – the British School Warsaw.

NAE later expanded to Asia, the Americas, China and across Europe and the Middle East to become the world’s leading premium schools organisation, providing high quality education to up to 67,000 students from kindergarten through to the end of secondary school.

The curricula offered at NAE include the English Curriculum, the International Baccalaureate, the Swiss Maturité and the US Curriculum, among others.