LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 4, 2024--
GEMS Education has announced the launch of First Schools Management, its new division dedicated to improving school management and performance across the globe, beyond the UAE. It was founded by Sunny Varkey, creator of the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize, a great proponent of the power of teachers around the world, including in the UK.
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Building on more than 65 years of educational expertise, this new initiative aims to offer high-quality management and school improvement services tailored to meet the specific needs of schools around the world.
The UK is a priority market for First Schools Management. The country’s learning management system market is expected to reach almost USD 4 billion by 2030, 1 at an annual growth rate of around 12%. 2
First Schools Management by GEMS Education, with offices in London and Dubai, will partner with schools worldwide to enhance operational efficiencies, raise standards of education, and support leadership in achieving sustainable success and growth.
First Schools Management is founded on the core values that have distinguished GEMS as a global leader in education. Mobilising multidisciplinary teams with deep expertise, First Schools Management tailors its services to schools’ needs and goals, covering every aspect of school management.
GEMS Education has already received numerous requests from schools to establish this service, underscoring the global demand for high-quality school management and improvement solutions.
Mr Sunny Varkey, Founder of GEMS Education and Varkey Foundation, whose entrepreneurial and philanthropic work has seen him named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, launch the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize, and sign The Giving Pledge, said: “Our vision at GEMS has always been to make quality education accessible to every learner. Schools around the world face numerous challenges, but with the right management services tailored to their unique needs, they can focus on what truly matters – delivering exceptional education to their students. For over six decades, we’ve gained invaluable expertise, and through First Schools Management, we aim to share this knowledge to support schools across the globe.”
Building on GEMS’ global network of schools and expert educators, First Schools Management brings a wealth of knowledge and resources to every partnership. Client schools benefit from the insights GEMS has gained from operating in diverse international contexts, alongside locally relevant strategies that resonate with each school community.
The achievements within GEMS reflect a dedication to excellence and innovation in education. The group has consistently achieved outstanding academic results, with students excelling in international examinations, university placements, and national academic competitions. Highlights include:
The excellence achieved by GEMS is a testament to the extraordinary efforts of its staff, whose passion, innovation, and dedication drive the organisation’s success. The group’s professional development programmes are designed to empower staff with the latest technologies, resources, methodologies, and expertise, enabling them to deliver the highest standards of teaching and learning for all students.
Drawing on the global presence of GEMS and its blend of local knowledge and international best practices, First Schools Management is ideally placed to assist schools in their aspirations for growth, creating learning environments that meet the needs of communities and that provide world-class education that truly prepares students to succeed in a rapidly evolving world.
About GEMS Education
GEMS Education is one of the oldest and largest K-12 private education providers in the world and a trusted and highly regarded choice for quality education in the Middle East and North Africa region. As a company founded in the UAE in 1959, it holds an unparalleled track record of providing diverse curricula and educational choices to all socio-economic means.
Having started with a single school run from a private home in Dubai, GEMS remains a family business to this day. Its inspiring Founder, Sunny Varkey, and his son, Dino Varkey, who is Group Chief Executive Officer, are responsible for providing vision, insight, and strategy across the organisation.
Every day, GEMS has the privilege of educating students from over 176 countries through its owned and managed schools globally. And through its growing network, as well as charitable contributions, it is fulfilling the GEMS vision of putting a quality education within the reach of every learner.
Every year, students graduating from GEMS schools progress to the world’s best universities. Over the past five years, GEMS students have been accepted into over 1,050 universities in 53 countries including all eight Ivy League universities in the US and all 24 Russell Group universities and colleges in the UK.
For further information about GEMS Education, visit www.gemseducation.com
1https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/learning-management-system-market/uk
2https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uk-k-12-school-management-platform-market-application-rgive/
Mr Sunny Varkey, Founder of GEMS Education and Varkey Foundation (Photo: Business Wire)
A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.
But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.
“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,” the panel added.
It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.
Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.
In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil said the appeals ruling was “deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve.”
He added: “The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts.” He noted the panel’s finding concerned a “hypertechnical jurisdictional matter,” rather than the legality of the Trump administration’s policy.
“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he added, saying Khalil would remain free pending the full resolution of all appeals, which could take months or longer.
The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.
Khalil's lawyers can request the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested on March 8, 2025. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his firstborn.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They have also accused Khalil, 30, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.
The government has justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.
President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.
Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level. He does not have a final order of removal, which would permit a challenge in an appellate court, she wrote.
Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.
The majority opinion noted Freeman worried the ruling would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.
“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments, the judges wrote. “To be sure, the immigration judge’s order of removal is not yet final; the Board has not affirmed her ruling and has held the parties’ briefing deadlines in abeyance pending this opinion. But if the Board ultimately affirms, Khalil can get meaningful review.”
The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported. His attorneys have argued that the federal order should take precedence.
That judge has suggested Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.
His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.
Associated Press Writer Larry Neumeister contributed to this story.
FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
