GEMS Education
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| Education | |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Sunny Varkey |
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Website | www |
GEMS Education, founded as Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), is an international education company. It is a global advisory and educational management firm, and is the largest operator of kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, with a network of over 70 schools in over a dozen countries. Founded by Sunny Varkey, GEMS provides pre-school, primary, and secondary education. Through its consultancy arm, GEMS Education Solutions, the company works internationally with public and private sector clients on school improvement initiatives.
The Varkey Foundation, formerly known as the Varkey GEMS Foundation, is the philanthropic arm of GEMS Education. It aims to impact 100 underprivileged children for every child enrolled in a GEMS school.
Founded and headquartered in Dubai, GEMS has offices in the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Kenya, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.
GEMS Education has its roots in a family tutoring business in Dubai started by Indian-born teachers K.S. and Mariama Varkey in 1959. The discovery of oil in Dubai in 1966 brought in many foreign workers to the undeveloped emirate, including many from the Indian subcontinent. With the increased demand for an English-language education for the children of Indian expatriates, the Varkeys founded Our Own English High School in Dubai in 1968.
When in 1980 local authorities insisted that Our Own English High School be housed in a purpose-built facility, the Varkeys' son Sunny Varkey took over the operation of the school, which taught less than 400 students at the time. He soon expanded the school, and added new schools as well. The education situation in Dubai was ripe for expansion, since local schools were only for native Arabs, and the children of the ever-increasing number of expats needed education of their own. Under his umbrella business organization the Varkey Group, Sunny Varkey opened Indian, Pakistani, and British schools, and offered education under the different curricula: Indian (Central Board of Secondary Education and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education), U.S., British, and later International Baccalaureate, French, and dual and local curricula.
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