SISB’s AI Literacy Push Will Reach 4,800 Thai Students by 2026

SISB Public Company Limited plans to bring artificial intelligence literacy to every Grade 1 classroom in August, expanding its Singapore-curriculum network to roughly 4,800 students by year-end 2026, the company’s chief executive outlined in a recent interview with Kaohoon International. The strategy threads three moves together: an AI Literacy curriculum aligned with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development standards, a tuition freeze through 2026, and a second, cheaper school brand opening in 2027 to broaden SISB’s Thai base.

The setup carries an immediate cost. Krungsri Securities expects normalized profit to fall 6% for the year before recovering in the second half as new student cohorts lift average fees. SISB’s growth bet, in other words, is paid for in this year’s income statement, with the upside loaded onto the next academic year and the one after.

The Plan Koh Announced

Yew Hock Koh, CEO of SISB, laid out the company’s 2026 direction in the Kaohoon International interview. The headline target is 4,800 students by year-end, up from about 4,600 currently, with roughly 200 new students expected in the next semester alone. If that enrollment lands, SISB forecasts revenue growth of 3 – 5% for the year.

Tuition fees will stay flat. Despite inflationary pressure, the company said it will not raise tuition in 2026, framing the freeze as a way to lift the Thai student base by easing the burden on parents. The Pracha Uthit campus in Bangkok opened a new 600-seat Phase 3 building in January 2026 dedicated to high school students, complementing the wider SISB network and separating middle-schoolers from seniors on the same site. SISB posted a separate update on the project’s earlier construction phase on its site, describing the targeted 6-storey Pracha Uthit Senior School building as designed for senior students.

The AI rollout itself starts in August, applied from Grade 1 upward and built on OECD standards. SISB is calling the focus AI Literacy, the framing the company uses to mean students understand and use AI correctly, and is positioning it explicitly as an educational benefit rather than a cost-cutting move.

• 4,800 students targeted by year-end 2026 (Kaohoon International)
• ~200 new students expected in the next semester (Kaohoon)
• 3 – 5% revenue growth forecast if 4,800 hit (Kaohoon)
• 2026 P/E of 11 times (Kaohoon, attributing Krungsri Securities)

A Cheaper Sister Brand Arrives in 2027

SISB will not grow the Thai base by lowering the sticker price on its main campuses. Instead, it is opening a second brand. Marina Singapore International School will charge tuition 30 – 40% below SISB’s primary brand and is now taking applications for its inaugural campus at Rangsit Khlong 3, with completion targeted for April 2027 ahead of an August 2027 opening. The campus plan calls for two buildings sized for 1,200 students and a total investment of THB 400 million, according to the Kaohoon report.

Marina is the company’s response to two forces pulling in opposite directions. International student enrollment, particularly from China, has fluctuated, while SISB wants to widen its share of the Thai market without diluting its premium core brand. The new brand sits on Singapore and UK curricula with trilingual instruction in English, Chinese, and Thai, and is being marketed as a more accessible international option for Thai families. The opening details, including the August 2027 start and admissions through Primary 4, sit in Marina’s inaugural campus announcement.

Why 2026 Looks Rough on the Income Statement

The same assembly of moves that grows enrollment weighs on this year’s earnings. Krungsri Securities expects SISB’s 2Q26 normalized profit to decline year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, the analyst firm wrote, attributing the drop to flat tuition fees, stable student numbers, lower supplementary income, and increased depreciation from expanded capacity.

Krungsri Securities expects SISB’s 2Q26 normalized profit to decline both YoY and QoQ, attributed to flat tuition fees, stable student numbers, lower supplementary income, and increased depreciation from expanded capacity.

The full-year shape carries the same arc. KSS projects a 6% decline in 2026 normalized profit, with improvement likely in the second half as new student cohorts lift average fees and the higher-fee Marina brand prepares to come online. The firm maintains a Buy rating with a THB 15 target price, citing profit growth potential on rising student numbers, the benefit of a fixed cost structure, and the company’s mid-market segment expansion.

On a near-term earnings basis SISB sits at 11 times 2026 price-to-earnings, and KSS describes the multiple as showing limited downside risk. The expense side of the equation is what weighs on 2026 reported earnings: the Phase 3 building is now in service and Marina’s construction is being capitalized. SISB is debt-free and maintains strong cash flow per the report, and the company recently acquired 23 rai of land in the Suvarnabhumi area to support future growth across both the SISB and Marina brands.

The Macro Thai AI Education Push

SISB’s August rollout lands into parents who have already watched their children’s teachers take the same path. From October 2025 to March 2026, Thailand’s Ministry of Education, together with Microsoft Thailand, OBEC, OVEC, IPST, and ETDA, ran the AI for Teachers project across the country: 160,507 educators completed the training, with 135,560 already certified and the program collectively reaching 3,326,065 students nationwide. A satisfaction and impact survey of the Thailand’s AI for Teachers rollout reported that 99.7% of school administrators found AI significantly helped reduce learning gaps, and 94.8% observed students using AI more responsibly and safely.

The nationwide grounding matters because it changes the parent math. AI literacy is no longer a school-by-school gamble; it is becoming a baseline expectation that parents can compare across providers. SISB’s framing, explicitly educational rather than cost-saving, aligns with that backdrop. The push is not unique to Thailand: the University of Virginia recently opened a librarian-led AI literacy lab at the University of Virginia with four faculty pilots and a five-competency curriculum, and another institution began embedding AI in every degree for 40,000 students. SISB is the first major Thai operator to take the same institution-wide approach for younger learners.

What Could Bite vs What Could Break Right

The bear case is real. SISB’s headline enrollment slipped about 1% year-on-year in 2025, the deeper drag falling on nursery and kindergarten where enrollment fell roughly 10% as families cut non-compulsory early-childhood spending in a tighter economy. With tuition frozen for 2026 and a younger cohort mix leaning on early grades, the same exposure persists into the new academic year.

The bull case rests on the older cohorts and the macro. Total primary and secondary enrollment at SISB grew 3% year-on-year in 2025 even as the headline number fell, and international school penetration in Thailand has roughly doubled in the past decade to around 0.8%, still well below Malaysia’s 2%. SISB holds around 5.5% of the Thai international school market by student count, ahead of Nord Anglia at 5.3%, Shrewsbury at 2.7%, and ISP at 2.4%. The company’s cash pile sat at roughly 81% of 2025 revenue at year-end, with capital expenditure falling to around THB 335 million in 2025 from a 2023 peak of THB 698 million as the buildout phase eases. The detail on SISB’s market share, declining early-childhood enrollment, and the capex trajectory sits in the independent investor thesis that international school growth in Thailand is underpriced.

Marina opens in August 2027, and SISB’s seventh campus at Rangsit is targeting an initial 200 to 250 students in its first academic year, projected to double to 400 by academic year 2028, anchoring the next layer of volume growth on top of the core-brand curriculum push.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SISB’s AI literacy curriculum and when does it start?

SISB’s curriculum rolls out AI literacy from Grade 1 starting in August 2026, built on Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards. The company frames the focus as AI Literacy: students learn to understand and use AI correctly for educational benefit, explicitly not a cost-cutting measure.

Will SISB raise tuition fees in 2026?

No. SISB will freeze tuition in 2026 according to Yew Hock Koh’s Kaohoon International interview, citing the financial burden on parents as the company pushes to lift its Thai student base.

What is Marina Singapore International School and when does it open?

Marina is a second brand in the SISB family, charging tuition 30 – 40% lower than SISB’s primary brand. The inaugural Rangsit Khlong 3 campus has two buildings sized for 1,200 students, a THB 400 million investment, completion targeted for April 2027, and opening in August 2027. Admissions are open for Nursery 1 through Primary 4.

Is SISB profitable right now, and what does the 2026 outlook look like?

Krungsri Securities expects normalized profit to fall 6% for 2026, with the second quarter declining year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter on flat tuition, stable student numbers, lower supplementary income, and higher depreciation from expanded capacity. The same firm expects improvement in the second half as new cohorts lift average fees, and rates SISB a Buy with a THB 15 target price on a 2026 P/E of 11 times.