International Baccalaureate (IB). Logo: International Baccalaureate Organization. The International Baccalaureate has opened nominations for its 2027 Community Inspiration Award, recognising people who make a sustained contribution to the IB community. Announced on 5 October, nominations close on 25 October 2026. Educators, students, alumni, parents and school administrators are eligible, alongside others directly connected to an IB school or network. Three recipients will be selected, one from each of the IB’s global regions. Nominations should show how someone’s work supports the IB’s mission through advocacy, impact, innovation and compassion. This could be an opportunity to recognise a colleague, student or another contributor within your own school community. Members of the IB community can nominate through the official online form in English, Spanish or French. Self-nominations are not accepted. Read the IB announcement.

Google has launched its AI Educator Series in Malaysia, introducing free, standards-aligned AI literacy training for educators at Bett Asia 2026 in Kuala Lumpur. Google said Malaysia now has more than 200,000 Gemini Certified Educators, which it described as the highest number in the world. The company also highlighted existing access to Gemini for Education across Malaysian schools and public universities through government-supported initiatives. The programme is designed to provide short, practical training that teachers can apply directly in their work. Google also announced expanded access to Read Along in Google Classroom, including more than 60 native and translated Malay titles with comprehension activities. Read Google Malaysia’s announcement for more details.

OpenAI logo. OpenAI has announced textGrain, an invisible statistical watermark for AI-generated text, with a rollout to eligible ChatGPT and Codex users in the European Union over the coming weeks. The announcement was published on 5 October. The EU rollout covers eligible users across plans. Separately, API developers worldwide can opt in on selected models. Access to the detector will initially be limited to approved researchers and expert organisations, rather than being publicly available. OpenAI says the watermark has limits. An absent watermark does not prove that text was written by a person, and a detected watermark cannot measure the extent of human contribution. Editing, translation, short passages and unsupported models can reduce reliability. For schools, this is a development to watch rather than a ready-made assessment policy. Conversations about students’ work, evidence of the writing process and clear expectations for AI use remain useful. Any future detector would need to be understood on its own terms before its results were used to make decisions about a student. Read OpenAI’s text provenance announcement.

Google has made Gemini’s dedicated Student Hub available to Google Workspace for Education users of all ages, expanding a feature that was previously available through personal accounts. The hub brings together Gemini learning tools in one place, including study notebooks, flashcards and practice quizzes. Google says additional learning tools will be added to the same hub as they are released. Access remains controlled through existing generative AI settings in the Google Workspace Admin console, giving schools control over whether the Gemini app and its related tools are available to students. The Student Hub is available now for eligible Workspace customers outside the European Economic Area. See the Google Workspace update for the full rollout details.

School Watch. Editorial graphic: EdEvents News. Globeducate has entered Lithuania through the acquisition of Queen Morta School and the Vaikystės Sodas kindergarten network, adding provision for more than 1,700 children and students. The expansion was reported by Tes on 1 October. Queen Morta School has campuses in Vilnius and Kaunas. Vaikystės Sodas operates 11 kindergarten locations across Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Panevėžys. Together, the organisations serve learners from age one through to the IB Diploma. Globeducate says the schools will gain access to its international network, including exchanges, shared events and professional collaboration. Queen Morta’s provision combines Lithuania’s national curriculum with international programmes, including Cambridge and the International Baccalaureate. The acquisition is a useful indicator of where international school groups are expanding. For families and staff, the practical questions concern how access to a larger network translates into opportunities at school level, and what continuity looks like as a locally established organisation joins a global group. Read Globeducate’s announcement. Read Tes’s report, published on 1 October.

Tenby International School Setia EcoHill is preparing to open The Grove Learning Centre, a dedicated special education school on its Semenyih campus in Selangor. The new centre is due to open on 19 October 2026 and will support learners with special educational needs. Tenby is holding an introduction session for education partners on 7 October, offering an early look at the centre’s facilities, approach and learning environment. The Grove Learning Centre builds on the school’s existing special educational needs provision and will operate within the Tenby Setia EcoHill campus. Tenby International School Setia EcoHill is part of International Schools Partnership. Further details are available through the published Introduction Day information.

Artificial intelligence is being added to curriculum and EdTech products at speed, but independent evidence about whether individual AI features improve learning has not kept pace, according to a new EdReports brief. In a qualitative scan of 10 curriculum and education technology providers, EdReports found AI being used to tutor students, adapt content, support lesson planning, score work and recommend next steps. It cautions that evidence for an established product cannot automatically be treated as evidence for a newly added AI feature. The report also points to an imbalance in how the sector evaluates AI. Privacy, safety, bias and transparency are receiving increasing attention, while there is still no consistent way to determine whether an AI feature strengthens learning or preserves the coherence of the underlying curriculum. EdReports does not rate the products in the brief or conclude that AI is inherently beneficial or harmful. For schools, that shifts the procurement question from “Does it have AI?” to a more useful set of questions: What does the feature actually do? What evidence supports it? How will the school know whether it improves teaching or learning? As more products add AI, credible evidence may become as important as capability. Read EdReports’ AI in K–12 Instructional Materials: What We’re Seeing.

Artificial intelligence concept. Photo: Jernej Furman / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. The US executive branch has been directed to use the terms “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, under an Executive Order signed on 29 September 2026. Importantly, the order does not create a new technical category for the systems schools are using today. For implementation purposes, it defines “Super Intelligence” using the existing US statutory definition of artificial intelligence, while directing officials to propose legislative language for a future federal definition. It also does not require previously issued regulations, contracts, grants or other historical documents to be rewritten. That distinction matters in education. Terminology can shape how technology is discussed, but the label does not change the practical questions schools need to ask: What does the tool actually do? How reliable is it? What happens to student data? Where is human oversight? What evidence is there that it improves learning or work? The order applies to terminology used by the US executive branch; it does not itself change school policies elsewhere. For international schools, the more useful approach is to stay precise about capabilities. Whether a product is described as AI, SI or something else, safeguarding, governance, procurement and learning value remain the substantive issues. Read the White House Executive Order.

Kuala Lumpur, host city for Bett Asia 2026. Photo: Dudva / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Bett Asia 2026 brought 3,375 educators, policymakers and innovators to Kuala Lumpur on 23–24 September, with the programme spanning responsible AI, inclusive learning, digital transformation, wellbeing and future-ready skills. The clearest shift was that AI conversations are moving beyond novelty and into implementation. Across sessions and roundtables, the emphasis was increasingly on leadership, responsible adoption, teacher capability and the practical work of integrating technology into learning. A second theme was the pressure on schools to make better technology decisions. New tools are easy to demonstrate; sustainable adoption is harder. The conversations repeatedly came back to evidence, fit and a clear understanding of what changes for teachers and students after a product is introduced. The third takeaway was more human. For an industry focused on digital transformation, the value of face-to-face conversation remained obvious. Roundtables, informal meetings and peer discussion gave people space to test ideas against real school contexts rather than simply hear about products. See Bett Asia’s 2026 highlights.

Singapore saw support for an AI ban fall from 37% to 28% year-on-year. The Ipsos Education Monitor 2026 suggests people across the Asian markets it examined are more open to AI in schools than the global picture, even while support for restricting children’s social media use remains high. Across Indonesia, India, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, support for banning AI in schools ranges from 23% to 31%, below the 39% global average. Thailand sits at 25%, Singapore at 28%, and Malaysia and Japan at 29%. Australia and New Zealand are notable exceptions in the Asia-Pacific sample, at 52% and 47% respectively. The contrast with social media is striking. Globally, 73% support banning children under 14 from social media. Ipsos says the findings suggest people are distinguishing between technologies they perceive as potentially harmful and those they see as having a role in learning and opportunity. The pattern is not uniform across the region, and public attitudes are still moving. Singapore saw support for an AI ban fall from 37% to 28% year-on-year, while Japan and South Korea moved in the opposite direction. For schools, the data suggests the debate is increasingly about how AI should be used, governed and evaluated rather than a simple regional yes-or-no position. Read Ipsos’ Asia-Pacific analysis of the Education Monitor 2026.

Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov in a thought-provoking discussion with students at the Institute at Tanglin. Tanglin Trust School in Singapore is opening professional learning opportunities to educators across the region, with two IB teachers’ summits in November 2026 and a Faculty Research Conference in May 2027. On 12 November 2026, Tanglin will host an IB Economics Teachers’ Summit, followed on 13 November by an IB Business Management Teachers’ Summit. Led by Paul Hoang, the two days focus on practical approaches to assessment, resource sharing and ideas teachers can take back to their classrooms. Through The Institute at Tanglin, the school is creating opportunities for educators beyond its own campus to learn together, exchange ideas and strengthen practice. Established in 2022, The Institute is Tanglin’s forum for global thought leadership, connecting the school and wider education community with leading thinkers and practitioners shaping education and the wider world. Its programme of speaker events is open to everyone and free of charge throughout the year, with details available on The Institute’s website. The annual Faculty Research Conference will take place on 24 May 2027. Hosted in collaboration with the STaR network, it invites educators from schools, universities and teacher training institutions to share research and practice. Expressions of interest are open for those wishing to present or attend, and the conference is free for both attendees and presenters. “We are excited to hear about the best practice that educators have been developing and to create a space where ideas can be shared, discussed and debated,” said Sohini Brandon-King, Director of Scholarship, Inquiry and Partnerships at The Institute at Tanglin Trust School. She said the aim was for these conversations to lead to practical insights, stronger connections and a positive impact for students in schools around the world. EdEvents is proud to collaborate with Tanglin Trust School to share these opportunities with the wider international schools community.

Picture: Harrow International School Guangzhou. Harrow International School Guangzhou welcomed its first pupils on 24 August 2026, opening a new campus in Guangzhou’s Huangpu district. AISL subsequently announced the opening on 14 September, describing it as the group’s 15th campus in Asia. The school offers the British National Curriculum, progressing towards IGCSEs and A Levels, alongside boarding provision and a house system. Its specialist facilities include an AISL Future Lab for areas such as AI, robotics and coding, an Entrepreneurship Centre and a Language Lab. The school’s opening-day report describes pupils beginning lessons and exploring its innovation and entrepreneurship spaces. Read the school’s opening-day report Read AISL’s announcement