Education

Taaleem signs deal with UK’s Harrow for GCC schools

July 1, 2024, 9:47 AM

Students at England's Harrow School. Taaleem Holdings will own and operate Harrow International Schools

Super-premium school market
Taaleem hails ‘significant milestone’
First school will be in UAE

UAE schools operator Taaleem Holdings has signed a deal with the UK’s Harrow School to own and operate Harrow International Schools across the GCC.

The agreement marks Taaleem’s first foray into the super-premium school market.

The first Taaleem Harrow School will open in the UAE, according to a statement on Monday, although no date was given.

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“This agreement marks a significant milestone for Taaleem as we combine Harrow’s prestigious and longstanding tradition of educational excellence with Taaleem’s regional experience and focus on local culture and values,” said Khalid Al Tayer, chairman of Taaleem.

Harrow School was established in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. Among the illustrious Harrow alumni are Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, King Hussein of Jordan and seven British prime ministers.

Dubai Financial Market-listed Taaleem, which operates schools on behalf of the Abu Dhabi, Dubai and UAE federal governments, revealed in March that student numbers across its portfolio of 32 schools increased to almost 38,000.

The company said this helped to boost its bottom line to AED183 million ($50 million) for the first half of the 2023-24 academic year.

Taaleem will open two new Dubai British Schools, Jumeira and Mira, in August 2024 and September 2025, respectively.

Analysts are warning that the education sector in Dubai is no longer yielding the lucrative double-digit returns it used to.

Navin Valrani, CEO of The Arcadia School, told AGBI new investors considering the emirate must tackle significant entry barriers, escalating costs and an increasingly mature market.

He warned that the emirate is crowded with more than 200 private schools from large and global operators, making the market less penetrable than it appears.

According to analyst IndustryArc, the Mena education sector is forecast to be worth $175 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 percent from 2022.