Some of the most influential investors said at an investment forum in
Abu Dhabi that they were planning to build their schools in remote areas
in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and the Western Region.
Dino Varkey, Group Executive Director and Board Member-GEMS Education,
which owns four schools in Abu Dhabi, is planning to open another seven
schools across the emirate.
“We plan to open seven new K-12 schools across the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi, which can accommodate up to 30,000 students. The schools will be
across the board in terms of curriculum and socio-economic diversity [of
pupils],” he said.
“With Adec’s support we plan to open schools in remote locations and
are committed to doing so in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain,”
Varkey said.
Peter Abraam, Executive Director of the Royal Group and Board Director
of Learn Educational Investments that runs Al Rabeh Primary School and
submitted a number of applications to Adec for new schools, spoke about
providing another 1,300 student seats from Grades 5 to Grade 12 at the
new Al Rabeh High School extension.
“We felt it was vital to accommodate high school students in the new
school which will be centrally located in Abu Dhabi. We’ve also worked
with Adec in accommodating another 2,000 KG-12 students in a new school
called the Royal Academy which is located in Mohammad Bin Zayed City,”
said Abraam.
Dr B R Shetty, CEO of NMC Healthcare and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi
Indian School, has invested in a 36,000-square metre plot provided by
Adec. The new Indian School is located in Mohammad Bin Zayed City and
will serve up to 4,000 students from KG to Grade 4.
“Mohammad Bin Zayed City is a prime location and is ideal for our
students since many families live close to the school. All the 4,000
school seats are already full. That’s why we look forward to working
with Adec on providing us with other plots so that we can keep on
serving the community and fulfilling the increasing demand for school
seats,” said Dr Shetty.
Atul Temurnikar, co-founder and Chairman of the Global Schools
Foundation (a non-profit organisation based out of Singapore which has
20 schools across seven countries), is currently discussing applications
for plots of land with Adec.
“We have requested to build a total of five British and Indian K-12
schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and expect to provide over
10,000 seats among both British and Indian curriculum schools. They have
not hesitated to provide us with land plots, we are very thankful for
their ongoing support throughout,” said Temurnikar.
Hani Shammah, Head of Private Equity and Project Development at the
National Bank of Abu Dhabi who works closely with Adec on their
education initiatives, lauded the 1st Private Education Investment Forum
held at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel on January 8.(Gulf News,Published: 19:26 January 12, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment