GEMS Education and Edison Schools announce international alliance

The alliance brings together GEMS Education, the largest operator of private schools in the Eastern Hemisphere including the GCC and India, and New York based Edison Schools, the largest manager of public sector schools in the U.S. and the U.K.

Under the alliance, GEMS will acquire licensing rights from Edison. This will include the use of IP (Intellectual Property) and the Edison name to manage public sector schools in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Further collaboration opportunities are in the pipeline.

The new alliance unites two of education's most prominent entrepreneurs and pioneers -Chris Whittle, who founded Edison Schools, and Sunny Varkey, founder and Chairman of GEMS Education - to provide quality education to more students, worldwide while providing education with an international perspective.

'We believe that great learning and teaching standards are portable, that education quality is enhanced by international collaboration, and that organisations like GEMS Education and Edison will have a positive impact on the public as well as private schools worldwide,' Varkey and Whittle said in a joint statement.

'For the last 48 years GEMS mission has been to provide quality education to its students. This partnership is testimony to the fact that the brand of education which GEMS has pioneered and continues to nurture in the region has gained tremendous recognition around the world, including in North America,' Varkey added.

The new company will build a network of approximately 70 private schools in major cities around the world. The first of these schools will be in the U.S.

GEMS Education manages a growing international network of over 65 private schools, across six countries including England, India, and the UAE. With over 40 years of experience, GEMS provides quality education to over 70,000 students and employs nearly 6,000 education professionals. GEMS has expertise in multiple international curriculum and educational programmes, providing education to students from 124 nationalities.

Edison Schools, founded in 1991, serves nearly 300,000 children through multiple educational offerings, from the full operation of schools to tutoring and summer schools. It employs approximately 6,000 fulltime professionals and many thousands more in part time roles. Edison Schools are spread over 20 states in the U.S., as well as having schools in the U.K.