CEO of DFM-listed school operator Taaleem talks of UAE growth plans

Gulf News

The UAE school operator Taaleem is already scripting the next few chapters of its growth story, with talks having been initiated for a possible entry into Saudi Arabia.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/business/markets/watch-dfm-listed-school-operator-taaleem-starts-talks-on-a-possible-entry-into-saudi-arabia-1.97984802  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #education #dubai

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00:00We're very much a growth story but also of course we will be a dividend player

00:05as a result of being the first ever schools group to list on the DFM.

00:14Admissions are very strong for the year ahead. We are very pleased with the numbers across all of

00:22our portfolio in Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the present time. More and more people coming in

00:29and with children and also taking students from competitor schools as well. Across our UK

00:36portfolio we are full. There are no seats available in any of our UK schools which is

00:43a fantastic picture for Talim including obviously our Dubai British school outstanding brand

00:52and also the recently acquired Jebel Ali school. In terms of IB we have the growth of Raja Khalifa

00:58city and that has ramped up in terms of enrolment incredibly well and above indeed our business plan

01:06and expectation. There's other schools like Greenfield International School and Jumeirah

01:12Baccalaureate School that have seen a really significant growth in enrolment so we are

01:19very pleased and we also have to of course thank the Dubai and Abu Dhabi government because really

01:26the economic growth at the moment in a very challenging economic environment elsewhere in

01:32the world has led to a significant population increase. We're very much a growth story but also

01:39of course we will be a dividend player as a result of being the first ever schools group to list

01:46on the DFM. We set out a strategy there, a five-year strategy of growth and that will include

01:54two additional Dubai British schools. They are presently being built and on track. One

02:02is in Jumeirah and the other one is in the fantastic community of Meera. In addition to that

02:09we've set out plans for premium schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that will also be UK curriculum

02:19schools and the target date for them is to open in 2025-2026 so exciting times. In addition we

02:28are as always as we have always been as proven by Jebel Ali School looking for acquisition

02:36opportunities to deploy the funding that we were given from the public and when we went to IPO.

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