Ei ASSET marks 25 years with Dubai awards night honouring UAE's top students and schools

Educational Initiatives (Ei) and Sage Educational Consultants celebrated 25 years of Ei ASSET with the Ei ASSET Awards 2026, held on Saturday, September 19, at the Ramee Dream Hotel in Business Bay. The evening honoured students, teachers and schools across the UAE for outstanding performance in the Ei ASSET assessment, a diagnostic test designed to measure conceptual understanding rather than rote memorisation.

Dr Ram Shankar, founding director of the first CBSE Regional Office and Centre of Excellence established outside India, served as the chief guest. Since assuming the role in July 2024, he has overseen teacher training for CBSE-affiliated educators across 26 countries.

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Awards spanned five categories: National Level Toppers in English, Mathematics, Science and – new this year – Reading Assessment and Arabic; EMS National Awards for top cross-subject performance; Ei ASSET Talent Search (Ei ATS) Awards for gifted students in Grades 4–8; Best Performing Class Awards; and the Top 25 Performing ASSET Schools for 2025–26, representing institutions across Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

"Twenty-five years ago, we set out to prove that a test could do more than rank students, it could actually help them learn," said Hakan Ayaz, senior vice president and head of international sales at Educational Initiatives. "We don't need to argue for it anymore. We just point at nights like tonight."

Savitri Sreevalsan, founder and CEO of Sage Educational Consultants, who introduced Ei ASSET to the UAE 16 years ago, reflected on the programme's growth: "Back then, I was making the case, cold, to principals who had never seen an assessment like it. Tonight, 25 schools made the case for us, just by being here."

Ei and Sage currently work with more than 120 schools across the UAE. Organisers emphasised that the 25 honoured schools represent a snapshot of a broader community of participating institutions.

For more details, visit: www.sageuae.com