Following the advent of globalization, the world grows ever more challenging, and the sacrifices we must make in order to stay on top have grown more numerous than ever. The new millennium has witnessed the rise and fall – and subsequent recovery – of petroleum, and we’ve been slapped with a financial crisis, an economic recession and unemployment the likes of which very few people still alive have ever encountered, all in a span of ten years. In the midst of all this, and the resulting competition in employment, people have been forced to pack up house and home in order to go where their jobs take them.

Relocating is never a particularly pleasurable experience, but it becomes more taxing and disruptive when it affects the stability of our children’s academic lives. Our kids already have a hard enough time coping with their studies and social development, but when they have to frequently reintegrate into new school environments, their enthusiasm rapidly transforms into irritation and apathy. But it doesn’t have to be like that, not when the Internet presents an alternative that may alleviate much of the challenges involved.

K12 International Academy, a virtual school for students from kindergarten to Grade 12, offers one such option. Globally, K12 caters to some 50,000 students spanning 32 countries, and that service has made its way to the Middle East, in the form of K12 International Academy, based in the Gulf emirate of Dubai and regulated by Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

By Thomas El-Basha