GEMS Education reinforces commitment to ‘Year of Giving’

Press release

Published January 31st, 2017 - 11:29 GMT

Manav Fernandez and Dino Varkey

GEMS Education has introduced a rewards and benefits programme in line with the ‘Year of Giving’ initiative announced by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The programme has been designed to provide families within the GEMS network with several benefits through brand partnerships in order to alleviate the increasing financial burden on parents.

The initiative is also GEMS Education’s way of giving back to parents and saying ‘Thank You’ for the trust that has been placed in their schools over the years.

Dino Varkey, Managing Director and Board Member, GEMS Education, said: “GEMS Education is on a mission to bring quality education within the reach of every child – the loyalty programme is one of the ways in which we hope to make life in the UAE more affordable for our families.

“We recognise that there is a lot of pressure on families. We want to use the power of our network of schools and the power of our community, in order to provide tangible benefits that will make a real difference for parents and families in the UAE, day in and day out. A long term aspiration is that this programme makes tuition ‘cost neutral’.”

The initiative will reach close to 300,000 people in the GEMS Network (48 GEMS schools in the UAE, with 108,000 students, over 70,000 families and over 10,000 staff and their families).

Partnering with the region’s most sought after brands, the programme will offer enticing discounts and benefits across various segments – dining, healthcare, wellness, hospitality, travel, retail, entertainment, toys, stationery, among many more who will be signed up over the next few months.

Driving this initiative is Manav Fernandez, who recently joined GEMS Education as Senior Vice President, CRM and Customer Loyalty.

Manav said: “Through our parent surveys and general discussions we have been listening to our parents over the past few years and we have been able to understand their needs.

“Through this initiative, GEMS is leading a movement to create an ecosystem of businesses by creating mutual partnerships that benefit the community. GEMS Education is embedded into the fabric of the community here in the UAE and the wider region and we hope this initiative will further enhance quality of life for our families,” he concluded

GEMS Education has been committed to families in the UAE for over 55 years, and with programmes like this wants to ensure they continue to cater to the needs of their community.

The programme will be launched in September this year to coincide with the new academic year.

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.