New Chief School Officer of GEMS on mission to create 'schools of excellence'

Tabberer said:

"Creating 'schools of excellence' can only be achieved by working with families and their communities to improve education standards in countries around the world. We will achieve this by hiring and nurturing high quality teachers and by never losing sight of the importance of making our investment in each community a long-term and sustainable venture."

Tabberer added, "I am really excited at the prospect of developing excellent schools across the world. I am also looking forward to working with governments through the GEMS Schools Improvement Partnership (SIP) to raise standards of state schools."

Ralph Tabberer brings a wealth of management experience at the highest government level into the operation of GEMS schools in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region and will spearhead the educational expansion of the company across the globe.

Mr Tabberer is well known for his passionate approach to education and his radical outlook as a UK educator. Before taking over as England's chief government adviser on policy affecting all 22,000 state-run schools, he led a raft of reforms in teacher supply and training that plucked schools out of a teacher recruitment crisis, which had been threatening the quality of education in many classrooms.

Mr Sunny Varkey, Founder and Chairman of GEMS Education, welcome the world class education manager to the GEMS family.

"We are constantly striving for excellence in education and looking for the best people, who can make a difference in delivering quality education to the community," he said. "This is important to deliver value for parents, who entrust their children's educational career with us."

"With his extensive expertise, Ralph will not only add tremendous value in advancing and improving education in our schools but also help the private sector make more meaningful contributions to the country's educational sector. We are honoured to have such a distinguished educationalist - and the UK's top regulator - to lead our schools."

GEMS Education is already the world's largest single provider of private education and has a long-term goal of developing a network of 5,000 schools or five million children. Currently, it has nearly 100 schools in nine countries and has a significant market share in the UAE. GEMS is highly regarded for the quality of its education, and its students consistently outperform counterparts in their home countries.

GEMS schools teach a range of English, Asian, American and International Baccalaureate curricula and Mr Tabberer will be responsible for ensuring the highest education standards across the board. He will develop education strategy for the company with an emphasis on curriculum development, teacher professional development, and tracking pupil achievement.

After running one country's schools, Mr Tabberer is relishing the opportunity of working in a global education business with a multi-national team delivering a range of curricula. He is confidenct that GEMS can make a difference to children and young people in the developed and the developing world.

"In many countries, it is true that the private sector is best placed to put schools of real quality on the ground quickly. A company like GEMS is prepared to stand the commercial risks and build those schools to a high standard and at pace. It is clear to me already that GEMS operates at a rate that is faster than conventional state-owned systems. We can also equip our schools with high quality teachers faster than state-run schools," he said.

Mr Tabberer admires the GEMS model of motivating children through great classroom practice, while using the best modern technologies. He is also impressed with the level of parental engagement in the UAE which is much higher than in many other parts of the world.

"GEMS is aspirational - it has a great desire to help produce great human beings. Every school we build is to the highest standards, in order to provide the broadest possible development of the child," he said.

"When we face economic and social challenges, the single most important investment is in education. Every country and every parent knows the importance of investing in children. They are literally our future."