Editor’s Note
The UAE’s education sector is evolving to cater to its growing population of ultra-high-net-worth residents, as highlighted by Gems Education’s latest plans for Abu Dhabi. This trend underscores the broader economic shifts drawing global wealth to the region.
Gems Education, one of the world’s largest private school operators, plans to launch a school for the ultra-wealthy in Abu Dhabi. This follows the opening of the UAE’s most expensive school in Dubai this year, as the Emirates increasingly attracts the world’s super-rich.
Dino Varkey, chief executive of Gems Education, told The National at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh that the “significant reallocation of high-income families” into the Arab world’s second-largest economy, particularly post-pandemic, is a “very prevalent trend.” This trend supports establishing another educational institution for this rapidly growing demographic segment.
Dubai-based Gems, with over six decades of experience, launched the Gems School of Research and Innovation (SRI) in Dubai Sports City in January. The $100-million campus, featuring an elevated football field that doubles as a helipad, a 600-seat auditorium, and an Olympic-size swimming pool, opened in September for the 2025-26 academic year.
Fees at SRI in Dubai range from Dh116,000 ($31,586) for foundation stage one to Dh206,000 for year 12, making it the most expensive K-12 institution in the country. Mr. Varkey stated that SRI’s launch is a “consequence” of Dubai’s robust post-pandemic economic growth, accelerated wealth creation, and a sharp rise in super-wealthy migration to the Emirates.
Mr. Varkey noted that Abu Dhabi benefits from similar economic fundamentals driving Dubai’s growth, making it “certainly be a market that we would look at” for a flagship SRI school. He highlighted that while Gems has historically catered to affluent and dual-income households, there is now a new catchment of “uber affluent families” relocating to the country, for which SRI serves as the new portfolio flagship.
There is potential to expand the SRI brand beyond the UAE.
The UAE’s measures to attract foreign investment and its strategic position have made it a magnet for entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals, and institutional wealth. According to the Wealth Migration Report 2025 by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, the UAE is expected to attract a record 9,800 relocating millionaires this year. Dubai alone had an estimated 81,200 millionaires and 20 billionaires last year.
Gems will soon face competition in the super-premium school segment. UAE-based Taleem acquired rights to operate Harrow International Schools across several Gulf countries, with an elite school expected to open next year. The influx of the ultra-rich has also attracted global financial institutions, private banks, and asset managers to the UAE’s growing wealth management sector.
Dinesh Sharma, HSBC’s head of international wealth for the MENAT region, stated in September that wealth creation has pushed the number of UAE millionaires past 130,000, with personal financial assets exceeding $700 billion after growing over 20% in the past three years. HSBC expects millionaire numbers to keep growing, with more wealthy individuals from established centers like China and the UK relocating to the UAE.
Mr. Varkey emphasized that while expanding SRI is a priority, it does not change Gems’ broader growth strategy across all market segments. The company, which started with a single Dubai school in 1959, experienced hyper-growth post-pandemic in both enrollment and revenue and remains committed to aggressive expansion, especially in Dubai and the wider UAE.
