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13 more schools planned

Thirteen new schools are being planned by three large investors to open in different locations across the emirate.

According to the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), GEMS Education, which currently has four campuses in the Capital, plans to open seven more.

The Global Schools Foundation, a non-profit organisation that operates 20 schools in seven countries, is currently discussing applications for land plots for five new schools with the Adec while Learn Educational Investments intends to add another with Al Rabeh High School extension.

“We plan to open seven new K-12 schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which can accommodate up to 30,000 students. The schools will be across the board in terms of curriculum and socio-economic diversity,” said Dino Varkey, group executive director and Board Member of GEMS Education.

Atul Temurnikar, co-founder and chairman of the Global Schools Foundation said: “We have requested to build a total of five British and Indian K-12 schools across the emirate and expect to provide over 10,000 seats among both British and Indian curriculum schools.”

Peter Abraham, executive director of Royal Group and Board Director of Learn Educational Investments, which operates Al Rabeh Primary School, said the company will provide another 1,300 seats for Grades 5-12 at the new Al Rabeh High School extension.

“We felt it was vital to accommodate high school students in the new school which will be centrally located in Abu Dhabi. We’ve also worked with the Adec in accommodating another 2,000 KG-12 students in a new school called the Royal Academy which is located in Mohammed bin Zayed City,” said Abraham.

The Adec last week held its first Private Education Investment Forum in the Capital which was attended by around 150 education operators and investors.

At the forum, the education officials underscored the importance of investing in the private school sector, which enrols the highest number of the emirate’s student population (60 per cent), specifically to cater to the limited and medium-income groups.

According to Hamad Al Dhaheri, Adec’s Private School and Quality Assurance Executive Director, majority of students (63 per cent) in private schools pay fees below Dh15,000 per year while seven per cent pay Dh30,000 and above.

“Private schools are a major business with a total tuition revenue of approximately Dh2.6 billion in 2011-2012,” he pointed out.

In the past six years, private school population has been increasing annually by seven per cent. If demand continues in its current rate, student population is expected to reach 280,000 in seven years with an annual growth rate of five per cent. This means an additional 146,000 seats and 100 more private schools are required by 2020.

“Considerably, there’s a need to invest Dh3 to 4 billion in the sector in order to meet this demand,” said Al Dhaheri. There are over 198,000 students currently enrolled in 185 private schools across the emirate offering 15 curricula.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com