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29 March 2024

UAE has half of international schools in GCC

Published
By Wam

The expansion of international schools in the Gulf region continues, registering the second fastest growth rate in the world and now has 982 international schools in the region with a million students collectively paying $6 billion (Dh22bn) in fees, reported a Saudi newspaper on Tuesday.

The data was released as part of the latest research conducted by the International School Consultancy Group (ISC), a market intelligence firm delivering information on the global international schools market.

ISC’s data shows that the UAE ranked first as the country with the highest number of international schools, dominating the region with 439, up from 433 in the first quarter of this year.

Saudi Arabia has 195 international schools and Qatar 130, although this is bound to increase as the country’s Supreme Education Council (SEC) has just approved 26 new private schools out of the 90 applications it received.

ISC’s full report will be presented at the forthcoming International Private Schools Education Forum (IPSEF) in Dubai, said the Saudi newspaper Saudi Gazette.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait now hosts 80 international schools, teaching close to 90,000 students; while Oman has 58 operational international schools, with a population of nearly 60,000 students.

According to ISC’s report, the fastest growing international school market is currently Asia. The ISC says East Asia, the Gulf and South America will all be the source of new demand in future, as appetite increases for access to world-class quality education.

The IPSEF business conference for private and international schools addresses a range of issues concerning the private education market in the Middle East. Scheduled on September 23-25, 2014 at the Dubai Knowledge Village Auditorium, this year’s conference theme is ‘Delivering Best Practice in the Middle East’.

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