Dubai’s private schools have smashed records for the highest ever increase in enrolment growth since the establishment of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), which regulates Dubai schools, in 2007.
The rate of enrolment growth entered double digits for the first time in the 2023/24 academic year, registering at 12%, or more than 39,000 additional students, compared to this time last year. The total number of students attending Dubai private schools is now more than 365,000.
The KHDS credited the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) for this growth, which aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy in the next decade and position Dubai as one the world’s top global cities. It added that the continuous influx of families relocating to the city and the strong desire of parents to enrol their children in top-tier schools, reflects Dubai’s emergence as one of the world’s best cities to live and work in.
While this is great news for the Dubai private school sector, it has meant some families are struggling to find spaces at their preferred school, as the capacity at top Dubai schools struggles to catch up with the population growth. Although 9 new UAE schools opened this academic year, and there are further planned in the pipeline, will this be enough to cater to the increased demand for spaces?
Read more: All the new Dubai and Abu Dhabi schools set to open in 2024/2025 and beyond
Pictured: Dino Varkey accepting The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education in the UAE on behalf of GEMS Education and the Varkey Family in 2021
GEMS Education CEO Dino Varkey told SchoolsCompared.com that he believes far more schools are needed. While GEMS’ most affordable schools have always traditionally been oversubscribed, the group’s higher price point schools are now seeing utilisation rates that have not been seen for a decade or more, as, for Mr Varkey, “The UAE has benefitted from what I would consider a relocation of wealth from both the East and West.”
Mr Varkey said that the GEMS schools have never been as high in terms of capacity utilisation as it was this September 2023:
“Do we have the places at all the right levels to be able to keep up with growth in demand? Honestly, no. Schools are filling up much, much earlier than they ever have.
“This means that to match demand with the supply directly is getting increasingly hard.”
Read our full story on why it is imperative to start building new schools NOW.
Pictured: Poonam Bhojani, Chief Executive Officer, Innoventures Education
Speaking with SchoolsCompared, Poonam Bhojani, Chief Executive Officer, Innoventures Education, confirmed the growing pressure on places:
“Student enrolment across Innoventures Education schools has gone up by 16 per cent, as compared to the same time last year, with an increase of 20 to 40 per cent across certain class groups.“
Mrs Bhojani confirmed to us that Innoventures Education has already been swift to respond by opening a new Early Childhood Centre at its premium Tier 1 Dubai International Baccalaureate World School Curriculum International Academy (DIA) Al Barsha for children up to three years old, “making it the first ECC in the largest school campus in Dubai.”
Pictured: Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of KHDA, the Dubai Government’s official regulator of schools
Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of KHDA, said:
“Our city is not just experiencing growth; it is creating growth. An ambitious city is a magnet for ambitious people, and Dubai continues to welcome a record number of families and teachers each year. Schools in Dubai prioritise quality, wellbeing and inclusion, while offering diversity in their curricula, locations and demographics. This combination offers teachers unforgettable career experiences and promises parents that their children will receive an education unlike any other in the world.
“We now stand on the threshold of a new era in Dubai’s progress. If we could glimpse into the future, we would see a private school community whose growth is driven by the vision of Dubai’s leadership. We would see principals, teachers, parents and students becoming the architects of a school culture that is internationally renowned for its diversity and quality. We would see education in Dubai take its place among the best in the world.”
Dubai currently has 220 private schools, offering 17 curricula to students from more than 180 different nationalities. More than three-quarters of all students in Dubai receive an education that is rated Good or better by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau, including 76% of Emirati students.
New schools are coming, including the launch in 2026 of the highest profile “big brand” school to date in the Emirates: Gordonstoun Abu Dhabi. Read more on the remarkable confirmation of plans to launch of Gordonstoun Abu Dhabi here. And there are more big names in the pipeline which we cannot publish. But will it be enough, and soon enough, for parents and families already struggling to secure places?
Further information
Read about the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 here.
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