GEMS Education has announced it will open seven schools in the UAE this year.
The privately held education provider said that two Indian, two American and three British curriculum schools would be added to its network in the country.
As of the end of last year, there were 169 private schools with a total capacity of 255,208 students in Dubai alone.
The emirate’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) wants to increase that to 196 private schools with 341,000 students by 2017, as the population increases, particularly towards the World Expo 2020.
Founded by Sunny Varkey, GEMS Education is believed to be the world’s largest private education provider, with 78 schools across America, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe.
In 2014, private equity investors Fajr Capital, Blackstone and Bahrain sovereign fund Mumtalakat acquired a "significant minority stake" in GEMS Education's emerging markets business.
By Ed Attwood
Page last updated 31 December 2019