The family sitting in our open day in Kraków last week had never lived outside Poland. They were not moving abroad. They were thinking about the world their child would grow up in.
That shift – from expat-led demand to local families choosing bilingual international education – is now the defining story of the sector.
ISC Research just released its Global Market Overview 2025, and the data confirms what we see every day across Central & Eastern Europe:
📌 15,075 English-language international schools now operate globally
📌 7.6 million students enrolled worldwide
📌 Bilingual programs have grown 18% since 2015 – now making up 36% of all international schools
The reason? Families don’t want to choose between global opportunity and cultural roots. They want both.
At Maple Bear, that has been our philosophy from day one. Our Canadian bilingual methodology does not ask families to trade their language or identity for an international education. It weaves them together.
Here is what else the research shows is reshaping the sector:
→ Schools are moving beyond exams toward experiential learning – robotics, outdoor education, community projects
→ Emotional wellbeing and character development are becoming as important as academic results
→ Markets like Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria are among the fastest-growing for bilingual mid-market schools
Central & Eastern Europe is not on the periphery of this transformation. It’s at the heart of it. Our region has spent 30 years building globally connected economies. Now families want education that reflects that ambition – without losing what makes their culture unique. That is exactly the conversation we are having in Wrocław, Bucharest, Sofia, and beyond.
If you are a parent, educator, or entrepreneur thinking about what international education looks like in CEE – we would love to connect.
