New school management company to roll out 10 Middle East schools in AED400 million investment

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The face of Middle East education is set to change even more radically with the launch of a new school management company.

Academia Management Solutions International, or AMSI, aims to launch 10 new schools in the region over the next five years with a total asset value of around AED400 million.

AMSI has already been appointed to manage a school portfolio valued at more than AED500 million. The portfolio includes two Al Mawakeb schools in Dubai, the new International School of Arts and Sciences in Al Warqa, Dubai, and the International School Koura in Beirut.

Announcing its official launch into the Middle East market today, Academia Management Solutions International (AMSI) is an academic consultancy and management firm with AED10 million in paid up capital.

The company aims to boost educational standards by introducing innovative, technologically advanced teaching methods into the classroom. AMSI is an industry leader in ICT, or e-learning. Its partners include INTEL, Nortel, Xerox, HP and others.

“There are tremendous changes taking place across the UAE and the region as a whole, and it is increasingly vital that education keeps pace with those changes,” said Adonis Nasr, CEO, AMSI.

“At AMSI we aim to accelerate the progress being made in regional schools. We are committed to bringing education in the region in line with international standards, particularly in the field of e-learning and ICT integration.”

AMSI owns several advanced ICT applications that have been heralded worldwide as innovative and unique. These include N4B, a fully integrated network in which teachers can communicate with students directly on their laptops. The schools that are currently benefiting from this system are Al Mawakeb Schools in Al Garhoud and Al Barsha, the International School Koura in Lebanon, and the International School of Arts and Sciences in Al Warqa, Dubai.

AMSI’s new campus in Al Warqa is due to open in September. The International School of Arts and Sciences will have a revolutionary AMSI-tailored programme including pre-engineering, pre-business studies and pre-med courses. Alissar Soubra, Chief Academic Officer, AMSI, said, “ISAS shall be unique in its technology implementations and programmes, but shall also have a thorough and dynamic arts and music programme complementing it.”

“All of our schools set new standards of excellence and reflect a commitment to education,” Nasr said. “AMSI will become the benchmark for credible and professional academic consultancy. This is not a small task, but we are confident in our ability to achieve our goals. We have a wealth of experience, a wide network of contacts, an impeccable reputation and high credibility. We have and continue to maintain a strong relationship with all the local and regional authorities. We have also established guidance connections and relative databases with universities all over the world.”

While the bulk of AMSI’s activities have been in the UAE, the company plans to use its network of contacts and its international strategic alliances to offer its solutions and services worldwide. Partnerships are underway in Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Pakistan.

Its five-year plan is based on forming partnerships and management contracts with a minimum of 15 schools, not including Private Public Partnership programmes.

“We are seeking to form relationships with individual investors and financial institutions, along with academic establishments that require operational assistance,” said Nasr. “Education cannot become a business, but the sector must continue to improve and therefore must be treated as a business. However, our main priority is to provide children with high quality and affordable education. To this end, while AMSI welcomes the decision of the Dubai Education Council to allow a 16 per cent increase in tuition fees at our schools, we shall be applying only 8 per cent of the allowed limit at Al Mawakeb Schools for next year.”

The professional educators and executives that AMSI has assembled have 30 years experience in educational management consultancy. Their collective alumni base consists of individuals who have gone on to achieve excellence in higher education and beyond. The company operates multilingual curricula that are tailored to suit market and community requirements. The deployment of its ICT services can also be tailored to suit individual academic institutions. AMSI has an international advisory board that sets, regulates and supervises its corporate governance. All of its schools use a Business and Process Management software allowing for centralised and consolidated business intelligence.

AMSI will shortly be moving to new offices, which will have state-of-the-art IT and infrastructure to support its international network of schools and enhance communication and data management. The company’s two Al Mawakeb campuses alone cater to nearly 5,000 students.

AMSI is the main sponsor of the Middle East Forum on Learning Technology which takes place on April 11th, and they will be participating in GETEX, the region’s leading educational exhibition from April 11th to 14th. The company will use the event to establish itself as a leader in the field of school management solutions and as a springboard to further penetrate the market.