Expats paying $33,000 school fees fuel rise of Dubai billionaire

At GEMS World Academy in Dubai, kindergarteners have access to iPads and students spend time at the school’s 70-seat planetarium. That all comes at a cost — fees that can rise to $33,000 by grade 12. It’s the most expensive in the chain run by Dubai’s GEMS Education, which is among the world’s largest private school operators.

Founded by Indian-born billionaire Sunny Varkey, GEMS caters to every price point, starting at as little as $3,900 a year. But a boom in the emirate’s financial sector has meant Dubai is home to a growing population of hedge fund traders and bankers willing to fork out premium prices. Private schools are big business across the globe — and they tend to be pricey in most major hubs.



In the U.K., for instance, Nord Anglia Education has been looking to sell a stake at a $15 billion valuation.

But Dubai is more lucrative than its peers because local rules make the city’s public schools largely inaccessible to most expatriates..