Gems Education has responded to comments in regards to potentially running public schools in Dubai, this follows the announcement made by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai stating that UAE public schools would be run by private sector firms, following a ruling by the National Cabinet.
The education giant said, according to reports, said that they are aware of the plan and that they “remain fully supportive of all national education entities in the UAE and any of their initiatives to further enhance the education system across the country.”
So far, 28 public schools have been identified as Sheikh Mohammed called on well-established education providers to take over the schools.
The plan, to be executed over the next three years, will offer more diversity of choice to parents.
In a message to his more than 11 million followers on Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Today, we adopted the operational model of Al Ajyal Schools, through which 28 public schools are outsourced to be run by experienced operators from the private sector for a period of three years.”
“The goal is to transfer experiences and diversify options for parents.”
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GEMS Education is world’s biggest private school operator, teaching 140,000 students from 175 countries.
Last year, sources revealed that CVC Capital Partner, a private equity firm with a stake in GEMS, was looking to sell its stake in the education giant. The deal has valued the firm as high as $6 billion.
Sunny Varkey, the founder of the education giant, confirmed to Arabian Business in an exclusive interview in November that CVC was looking to exit its stake.
“We have an agreement with CVC, and we are now working to deliver then their exit which was always planned for. That’s what this is about. We are fortunate in that there have been several suitors,” he said.
Varkey has led GEMS through its global growth, with the firm now the largest non-governmental operator of private K-12 schools in the world.
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