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Many international schools have become significantly better at onboarding over the last decade, investing more time and energy into helping new hires settle into countries, systems, and communities. That’s a positive shift. But while onboarding has become more professionalised, offboarding is often inconsistent, rushed, or poorly designed.

Are we playing a game of musical chairs with international schools as the players? The chairs are the diminishing pool of school age children. As demographic trends see student numbers contract year on year in many markets, the music is slowing, and the scramble is becoming a fight for survival. This crisis of enrollment is inextricably linked to our industry's future, and stakeholders must now navigate the risks of transformation. So, in this high stakes round of musical ch