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Gems Education announces $100m Dubai school

Fees for the new Gems school in Dubai Sports City will start at AED116,000 Unsplash/Curated Lifestyle
Fees for the new Gems school in Dubai Sports City will start at AED116,000
  • Annual fees up to AED206,000
  • Robotics lab and Olympic-size pool
  • Warnings of UAE teacher shortage

Gems Education has revealed plans to open the most expensive school in the Gulf, which is set for completion later this year.

It is spending $100 million to develop Gems School of Research and Innovation in Dubai Sports City. Annual fees will start from AED116,000 ($31,582) for early-years education and rise to AED206,000 by the time pupils graduate.

“This is a huge investment for us,” Maryssa O’Connor, senior vice president of education at Gems, told Dubai Eye Business Breakfast on Tuesday.

Another Dubai schools operator, Taaleem, has announced plans to enter the super-premium market with offerings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi through its link-up with British public school Harrow.

Asked about fees for the Gems School of Research and Innovation, O’Connor said: “Globally it’s still within what we would expect to see a school of this performance, this standard to be delivering.”

The Institut auf dem Rosenberg, a boarding school in St Gallen, Switzerland, charges $176,000 a year while Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, California, costs almost $90,000 annually. The UK’s Eton College charges £21,099 ($25,770) per term.

Gems says the School of Research and Innovation will have specialist robotics and science laboratories, a 600-seat auditorium, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and learning centres enabled with augmented reality and virtual reality.

Gems School of Research and Innovation is set to open this year in Dubai Sports CitySupplied
Gems School of Research and Innovation is set to open this year in Dubai Sports City

It will also have an elevated football field that will double as a helipad.

Education experts have previously warned of a teacher shortage in the region, with the UAE alone requiring 30,000 more teachers by 2030.

O’Connor said Gems was looking for teachers who had been working in “prestigious schools” and would offer “an enhanced salary and package” to attract them.

Gems operates more than 60 schools with over 130,000 students across the Middle East and North Africa. It also has schools in Asia, Europe and North America.

Last June a consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management announced plans to invest almost $2 billion in the education provider.