The Pace Group plans to capture demand for affordable schooling among the Gulf's 7.5 million-strong Indian population in a move that could challenge the dominance of established players such as the Gems Group.
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Education The Players
Gems Education Gems Educationowns and operates schools in the UK, US, India and the Gulf. It also offers educational consultancy to the public and private sectors. The company was established more than 50 years ago by the parents of the current Gems chairman, Sunny Varkey. Gems claims to be the world's largest operator of private kindergartens, with hundreds of schools for preschoolers. It has more than 9,000 employees and is based in Dubai.
The New Indian Model School The New Indian Model School (Nims) offers specialist education for Indian expatriates in the Gulf. It has been headquartered in Dubai for 29 years. The company says it focuses on affordable, quality education for all without discrimination. Its fees are less than at other international schools because it caters to South Asians.
Pace Group The group operates the India International School in Sharjah, Gulf Asian English School in Sharjah and India International School in Kuwait, and it has eight institutions in India. The group is planning to open more schools in the Gulf to cater to the growing demand.
The group is planning to set up schools, ranging from kindergarten to secondary level, which will offer Indian curriculums and high-quality teaching at lower-than-average prices.
"We are planning to expand our existing enterprise in the Gulf to target lower and middle-income families who often feel left out from private schooling. Indian schools [in the Gulf] are oversubscribed, and fees are rising, and we want to offer something that is more affordable for Indian families," said PA Ibrahim, the chairman of the Pace Group.
He said the initial investment for his education project would be about US$10 million (Dh36.7m) to $15m.
"Whilst educational enterprises take four to five years to make any money, we have good relations with our banks and investors. And education is more than just business for me," he said.
Billions of dollars are being spent on school construction across the Gulf to cater to the region's young and fast-expanding population. The Abu Dhabi Education Council has approved requests to open 47 schools in the next two years to serve more than 60,000 students. There are estimated to be 1.7 million Indians in the UAE, more than one fifth of the population.
Mr Ibrahim said details of his latest project are not fully finalised, but some negotiations on various locations are taking place.
"Locations will depend on the price, but as soon as we have found a suitable place, we will start work straight away," he said.
Many Indian expatriates in the Gulf are keen to send their children to schools that can teach their country's curriculum so that the children can be competitive should they return to India.
Education is seen as a worthy investment by many Indian middle-class families. Some do not hesitate to spend upwards of $10,000 per year for a child's tuition in the Gulf.
But Indian expatriates pay considerably less than their western counterparts - because the average western expatriate earns about three times more than his South Asian peer. Many schools for Indian expatriates are crowded, and there are reports of thousands of names on waiting lists for a school that has just a few hundred places.
Pace Group's plans come at a good time and are unlikely to escape the notice of two well-established players, the New Indian Model School (Nims) and Gems Education, which offer a range of schooling options for Indians in the Gulf.
Nims has been operating in the region for nearly 40 years and Gems since 1980. Both claim to excel in academic performance and offer Indian-style schooling.
Gems even has the backing of the former US president Bill Clinton and the former British prime minister Tony Blair, who are involved, through their foundations, with philanthropic activities at Gems Foundation.
The tough competition does not seem to deter Pace Group's bullish views of the market. Pace also has ambitious plans to target the fast-growing market in the south-western Indian state of Kerala.
"We recently joined hands with other investors to establish the Rims International School in Kannur, Kerala. And we are currently considering various proposals for setting up schools, colleges, both engineering and medical," Mr Ibrahim was quoted as saying.
Funding of Pace's educationproject will be handled by Mr Ibrahim, who is well-known in business circles in the Gulf and India. He runs Al Shamali Group in Dubai and is a co-chairman of Malabar Gold, a new chain of jewellery shops that has expanded rapidly in India and the Middle East.
"I am a businessman, but I have other passions. Education is one of them," he said.
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