UAE-based GEMS Education is expanding its footprint in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by partnering with Spark Education Platform (SEP). This expansion follows the signing of an intellectual property agreement by First School Management (FSM), the advisory arm of GEMS Education.

Through this partnership, GEMS Education will be introducing its brand to select schools managed by SEP in both countries. SEP is recognized as one of the fastest-growing K-12 school operators in the region and currently oversees four schools with a combined capacity of over 10 000 students. The goal is to grow to more than 20 schools serving 20 000 students across Saudi Arabia and the GCC in the next five years.

Sunny Varkey, Chairman and Founder of GEMS Education and the Varkey Foundation, emphasized the organization’s commitment to providing world-class education, stating, “Our vision has always been to make world-class education accessible to as many students as possible.” He noted that the launch of FSM is a natural extension of this commitment and highlighted the partnership with SEP as the first of many opportunities in this region.

Under the long-term agreement, FSM will provide a defined range of services through a licensing model to support SEP’s operation of GEMS-branded schools. Karim Moussa, Co-CEO of EFG Hermes, which backs SEP through the Saudi Education Fund, expressed his honor in expanding the partnership into Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, noting the significant demand for new high-quality K-12 education capacities in the region.