GEMS Education Launches Learning Zone Inspired by Emirates Mars Mission

Press release

Published February 28th, 2018 - 07:35 GMT

GEMS FirstPoint school students at the learning zone.

GEMS FirstPoint school hosted the UAE Space Agency officials at their campus at a commemorative event held to launch the school’s ‘Mission to Mars Learning Zone’, in an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The inauguration was attended by Zafar Raja, the Chairman of the Local Advisory Board, GEMS Education, and Abir Khater and Aminah Al Yammahi, from the UAE Space Agency.

The inspiration behind launching the ‘Learning Zone’ is the ‘Emirates Mars Mission’ – where a spacecraft called HOPE, to be launched in July 2020, is set to arrive on Mars in 2021 to coincide with the UAE’s 50^th Anniversary.

GEMS FirstPoint school has created a learning zone in their Foundation Stage that replicates planet Mars; with a research station which replicates the HOPE pod space lab where students will take part in interactive learning, develop their technology skills and participate in reading sessions.

Background Information

GEMS Education

In 1959, two teachers, KS Varkey and his wife Mariamma, arrived in Dubai.

At the time, Dubai was a burgeoning trade centre on the Arabian Gulf. The Varkey family had left Kerala, India to seek a better life for their family. What they found was a real need to educate children arriving in the city from around the world.

Their son, Sunny, added a visionary’s ambition to a practitioner's experience. From simple roots in a family of teachers, GEMS Education, is today an international company with schools and education services across the Middle East. We still share the same mission - to provide a quality education to everyone.