Life lessons

By Diana Milne, Editor

From humble beginnings, with a single school in Dubai, GEMS Education has grown into a multi-million dollar global business teaching 85,000 children in 100 schools worldwide. Diana Milne meets Chairman Sunny Varkey to find out the lessons he has learnt in business and in life.

You would expect the boss of a multi-million dollar business to have been a model student during his school days. But in the case of Sunny Varkey, Chairman of GEMS Education, you would be wrong.

In fact, Varkey didn't do much studying at all when he was at school - a factor that ironically, inspired his choice of a career in education.

"I was a good student but I didn't like to study much. I was more of a hands-on businessperson, an entrepreneur, and that's why I have a passion to build good schools," he says. While he is all too happy to admit his own failings as a student, Varkey is determined to provide inspirational learning environments for the 85,000 students taught in GEMS schools worldwide.

Varkey's parents, who were both teachers, sowed the seeds for the foundation of the company when they opened Our Own English High School in 1968 after arriving in Dubai from Kerala in India to start a new life. The school faced the threat of closure when Varkey's parents were ordered by the government to either build better, purpose-built premises or shut down. At that time, Varkey was a fledgling entrepreneur and pitched in by investing in a new facility for the school which he went on to manage. He hasn't looked back since.

Today the company manages a network of 100 international schools across the Middle East, Africa and Europe - which Varkey says set new standards in education and facilities: "Our philosophy is to ensure that every parent gets good value for their money and that every child gets a good education. Good quality forms the backbone of everything we do. We are trying to make a difference in the way schools are built. We want to make the environment very different, exciting and interesting."

Daring to be different
Varkey's disappointing experiences as a schoolboy in UK boarding schools have driven his desire to create schools that children want to learn in. "In a certain way, seeing some of the good schools in England made me want to go further and do better. I want to be innovative and think outside the box," he says.

Varkey has taken this concept one step further with the creation of the first GEMS World Academy, which was built in the Al Barsha area of Dubai at a cost of US$20 million. The school is a far cry from anything parents will remember from their schooldays and features a 400m athletics track, 660 seat auditorium, and Discovery World - a high tech zone with a robotics lab, planetarium, design and technology study and art studio. There is even a catwalk for aspiring fashionistas and a roof top Peace Garden.

Describing the school, which will now be emulated across the UAE, Varkey says: "The facilities are absolutely superb. The whole campus has been designed to be very exciting. There is even an observatory and planetarium." GEMS World Academy is clearly catering to the high end education market - with fees believed to range from US$14,400 to US$25,050 a year. Within the GEMS network however, there are different levels of schools in different price brackets and Varkey insists his aim is to provide education aimed at children from a range of backgrounds: "We at GEMS lead the pack as the largest operator of private schools in the world for kids from three to 18 and we also offer different models from mid market to premium plus, at different price points. This doesn't exist in many countries, especially in Dubai. What we provide allows parents, depending on their financial capability, to choose a school for a child without compromising on quality. This works in the same way as airlines and hotels where products are offered at different price levels."

Counting the costs
Despite its commitment to price variation, however, the company has recently attracted controversy by announcing a 90 percent price hike at a Dubai school, the Dubai Modern High School - a move which has sparked protests amongst parents, 98 percent of whom have responded to a survey saying they are unwilling to pay the increased fees and will be looking for alternative schools for their children. At the time of the announcement, a statement from the company claimed it was forced to increase its fees because of an increase in rent that had forced it to relocate the school to a different area of Dubai. This situation relects the fact that GEMS - like all companies in the UAE - faces tough challenges ahead. The exodus of expatriates from the country could put an end to the long waiting lists it has boasted in the past and the drying up of credit availability places a question mark over its ambitious plans to build more GEMS World Academy schools.

As Varkey points out, running GEMS Education is akin to running any large business. Indeed he compares it to a hotel or aviation business. "Of course as industries they are different but the philosophy of branding and quality assurance is probably the same. Both models provide economies of scale and ensure that they provide a minimum level of service that is associated with the brand. We at GEMS are totally customer driven and we package our education with hospitality."

These comparisons mean GEMS Education faces many of the same challenges as fellow companies in the corporate world - including, in the Middle East in particular, manpower shortages. Varkey is aiming to combat this problem by improving the environment in which the teachers operate and by starting a teaching awards event to increase staff morale. The company is also planning to set up teaching training academies in the region and to boost in-house staff training.

Pastures new
Varkey, like the bosses of airlines and hotel operators, harbours global ambitions and has already succeeded in extending the GEMS network of schools across the world: "Our aim is to be in almost every country as we go forward. We'll be like a hotel chain that has a hotel in almost every country in the world". He goes on to say that is he keen to strengthen GEMS Education's presence in Europe, particularly in the UK where he believes his schools have the potential to compete with the UK's top public schools.

"One area we are looking into is the UK market, where it's about time the UK government started giving choice to parents in terms of more private schools, the right ones, the right models, and at no cost to the government. "We have about 11 schools in the UK but mostly these are ones we took over from existing schools. What we are looking for are greenfield sites, so we can build some schools from scratch like the ones we have in Dubai."
Varkey's business acumen does not stop at the education sector. GEMS Education is part of the Varkey Group, which he chairs and which also includes Emirates Healthcare Holdings Limited, which runs the Welcare and City Hospitals and clinics across the UAE. He says he has no intention, however, of branching into new sectors, having chosen his specialisms wisely, in view of current economic conditions: "The two businesses that are almost recession-proof during the financial tsunami are healthcare and education," he says. "So in terms of investment I think people should look at education and healthcare as good businesses today." He adds that he plans to focus primarily on education, admitting: "I like to be master of what I do. So I'm sticking to education as my main business."

Varkey's considerable achievements were recently recognised when he was awarded India's Padmashri award, which is given to those who have achieved outstanding contributions in education and social service. He has certainly come a long way from the reluctant schoolboy - and for the thousands of budding entrepreneurs being taught in GEMS schools across the world, there can be no better inspiration than Varkey himself.