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Education

Education news from the Middle East and beyond. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

UAE back to school

Retailers rejoice as shoppers prepare for new school term

An estimated 1.5 million students across the UAE are expected to enrol for the new term on Monday – and retailers are welcoming the traditional spending spree for everything from school uniforms to stationery. This year’s back-to-school shopping sales in the UAE are predicted to reach about AED3 billion ($820 million). “Overall, there is expected to […]

Amanat reported a 20% rise in enrolments at Middlesex University Dubai in the first half of 2024

Dubai’s Amanat to pay $20m dividend despite profit fall

Amanat Holding, a Dubai-listed investment company, will pay an interim dividend of AED75 million ($20.4 million) for the first half of 2024 despite a decline in profit. The bottom line fell 8 percent year on year to AED89 million, impacted by the one-time gain in the last year and the impact of corporation tax. Excluding […]

Amanat's listing represents the third education IPO in the UAE over the past two years

Amanat to list its education platform

Amanat Holding, an investment company in Dubai, has announced plans to list its education platform. The move will be the third education-related initial public offering in the UAE in the last two years, following the listing of Dubai’s Taaleem in 2022 and Abu Dhabi’s Alef Education earlier this year. Amanat, which specialises in healthcare and […]

Investcorp owns and manages more than 16,500 beds across 25 student housing investments

Investcorp buys US student housing assets for $160m

Investcorp, Bahrain’s alternative asset manager, has acquired two student housing properties in the US for $160 million, as university enrolment numbers surge. The two properties, the University of Florida in Gainesville and the University of Texas at Austin, have a combined 914 beds. The two universities are ranked among the top 10 public universities in […]

Person, Human, school pupil

Taaleem’s premium schools strengthen bottom line

UAE-based schools operator Taaleem has reported net profit before tax of almost AED278 million ($76 million) for the nine-month period through to the end of May. Profits at the Dubai-listed company, which operates 32 schools across the UAE, increased by close to 39 percent year on year. Revenues over the period were up 15 percent […]

Jordan's $400m Masar programme aims to equip Jordanian children and youth with the relevant skills for the labour market

World Bank to support Jordan’s social sectors

The World Bank has approved $700 million programmes to support Jordan’s health, education and social assistance sectors. The $300 million Jordan human capital programme aims to improve the governance and effectiveness of social sectors, as well as safeguard households from the adverse effects of climate change. In addition, the $400 million Masar programme will equip […]

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

Taaleem signs deal with UK’s Harrow for GCC schools

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 […]

Gems operates more than 60 schools with over 130,000 students across the Middle East and North Africa

Brookfield to invest in Dubai’s Gems Education

A consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management is to invest in Gems Education, the UAE’s private school operator. Other members of the group include Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Financial details were not disclosed but the investment is expected to be almost $2 […]

50 million Alef shares changed hands, making it the most active stock on Abu Dhabi’s bourse on Wednesday

Alef Education shares drop 13% on first day

Shares in Alef Education fell 12.6 percent after the company’s Abu Dhabi bourse debut on Wednesday. The education technology company had raised AED1.9 billion ($515 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) that was 39 times over-subscribed. The IPO was priced at AED1.35 ($0.37) a share, the upper limit of its range. However Alef’s shares […]

Almost a quarter of Qatar's population is under 25, adding to the need for more schools

Qatar’s rising population increases demand for schools

Qatar’s growing population is fuelling demand for new schools as investors seek to capitalise on double-digit returns. The Gulf state’s population grew from about 1.45 million in 2008 to roughly 2.9 million last year and is forecast to reach 3.2 million by the end of the decade. That translates into a need for an additional […]

Alef IPO edtech education technology

Alef Education IPO 39 times oversubscribed

Orders totalling more than $20 billion were placed at the IPO of Abu Dhabi’s Alef Education this week, leaving it 39 times over-subscribed.  The company raised AED1.9 billion ($515 million) in its initial public offering, the company said on Thursday. It will become the first education technology business to list on a UAE stock exchange. […]

Alef education schoolchildren

Alef Education valued at $2.5bn as IPO price range set

Alef Education, the first education technology company to list on a UAE stock exchange, has set its initial public offering (IPO) price range between AED1.30 and AED1.35 ($0.35-0.37) a share. Accordingly, the market capitalisation on listing will be between AED9.1 billion ($2.5 billion) and AED9.45 billion on listing.  The IPO subscription period starts on May […]

Navin Valrani, CEO of The Arcadia School, highlights high capital investment requirements and steep debt costs as challenges for new entrants to the market

Days of high returns numbered for investors in Dubai’s schools

Dubai’s private school market, once a goldmine for investors, is no longer yielding the lucrative double-digit returns it used to, the chief executive of a leading school operator has said. 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 […]

alef edtech

Alef Education to be first edtech with UAE bourse listing

Alef Education plans to offer a 20 percent stake on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, becoming the first edtech – education technology – company to list in the UAE. The selling shareholders, Tech Nova Investment, Sole Proprietorship and Kryptonite Investments, will offload 1.4 billion shares. The IPO price will be determined on June 6, with […]

Amanat’s education platform includes Middlesex University Dubai

Dubai’s Amanat moves ahead with education platform IPO

Amanat Holdings is planning for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of its education platform. The Dubai-listed healthcare and education investment company aims to monetise its education platform by creating a new holding company.  Advisors have been appointed to explore the monetisation options to unlock significant shareholder value, the company said in a Dubai Finanical Market filing […]

Egyptian schools sometimes operate in shifts to avoid classroom overcrowding and the country is facing a shortage of more than 300,000 teachers

Education underspend dents Egypt’s long-term prospects

Egypt’s failure to meet its constitutionally mandated spending on education – partly as a result of spiralling state debts – is hurting its long-term development. The country’s education sector plan for 2023-2027 estimates 1.5 million children were out of school in 2021 and that 250,000 additional classrooms must be built to accommodate the current school […]

Teenage students use a laptop and tablet. One cybersecurity expert said pupils' personal devices could increase the risk of data breaches

Cybercrooks have their eyes on Gulf schools, experts warn

The education sector in the GCC has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals because of budgetary constraints and a lack of expertise, tech experts have told AGBI. “Schools, in particular, are vulnerable due to their extensive storage of sensitive personal information and comparatively lower investments in cybersecurity,” said Ram Narayanan, country manager at Check […]

Taaleem has doubled its investment in edtech over the past five years but says it is selective with its use

Mena reaches for tech to upgrade results in education

Demand for education technology, or edtech, is growing in the Middle East and North Africa as countries seek to bolster learning to drive economic growth.  However, experts warned against excessive use of technology in classrooms, saying it could affect the attainment of basic skills such as reading and writing.  Examples of edtech include interactive whiteboards, […]

UAE schools operator Taaleem said student numbers across its portfolio of 32 schools rose to almost 38,000

Taaleem profits rise with surge in UAE student numbers

An increase in student enrolments by more than one-third helped UAE schools operator Taaleem achieve a 53 percent increase in annual profits for the first half of the 2023-24 academic year. Taaleem, which operates schools on behalf of the Abu Dhabi, Dubai and UAE federal governments, said student numbers across its portfolio of 32 UAE […]