The globe-girdling Dubai-based Varkey Group-promoted Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), which made a soft launch entry into India in 2004, is aiming to emerge as one of the top five K-12 education providers countrywide in the next three-four years, with at least 100 schools under its management. The Varkey Group, which owns 100 schools worldwide, with an aggregate enrolment of 100,000 students, completed 50 years in education this year, and is now looking to scaling up its involvement with Indian education.
“Today we are associated with 25 K-12 schools in India, of which eight are owned, 12 are managed and the rest consult with us. They range from high-end world schools to mid-priced schools in several cities. We are now working on implementing our scaling plan to serve the education needs of at least 100 schools by 2014,” says Ajey Kumar, country head India, who signed up with GEMS in 2008 after two decades with blue-chip corporates including Hindustan Unilever, Lupin and Ethypharm S.A.
According to Kumar, GEMS Education India’s progression plan involves setting up owned schools, taking over management and operations of existing schools, offering consultancy services to K-12 institutions and morphing into a one-stop shop for all services ranging from land acquisition to construction and operationalisation of schools. “Our top priority is to build greenfield schools under the GEMS brand. Schools management and consultancy services are recent initiatives,” says Kumar who reveals that GEMS has received proposals from several state governments to partner with them to promote schools under the PPP (public-private partnership) model.
Teacher training and development are also high on Kumar’s agenda. Last year GEMS Education introduced the Guruvar Awards for teachers (initiated by the Varkey GEMS Foundation, a philanthropic trust founded by Sunny Varkey, chairman of the Varkey Group), which celebrated 144,000 teachers in 3,000 schools in 45 cities across India, doling out cash awards aggregating Rs.2.2 crore.
“In a modest way, we have already started offering teacher training modules to schools. But once our own schools are ready, we’ll run teacher training courses in them offering hands-on training in real classroom situations supervised by highly qualified experts. As our India infrastructure develops, we’ll enter this vitally important sub-sector of education,” says Kumar.
GEMS Education India’s focus will be on the K-12 segment. “Our global experience, which we will invest in India, has been in school education. This is our specialisation and priority. We believe we can make a meaningful impact in this segment by expanding our footprint to 70-80 towns and cities countrywide. This will have a salutary effect on the development and upgradation of K-12 education in India,” says Kumar.
Fair winds!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)