GEMS to close Wellington Primary School in Dubai

Private-schools operator GEMS Education has confirmed that it will be closing its 14-year-old Wellington Primary School in Dubai at the end of the current academic year in July.

All its students, approximately 855 of them, will be shifted to GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail, with the migration beginning at the start of Term 3.

“The time has come to take the necessary steps to provide our students with a full through-school offering. As such, we have made the decision to unite our school with a sister school in the Wellington family, namely GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail in Dubai Hills – a move that will allow your children to make a seamless, uninterrupted journey through primary and secondary education,” it said in a statement on its website.

GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the British Schools Overseas (BSO) body and ‘Very Good’ by the Dubai’s education regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

Tuition fees for all GEMS Wellington Primary School students will remain unchanged, with students having their fees protected until they graduate from Year 6, after which the Al Khail institution’s fee structure will apply. All application and transfer certificate charges will be waived.

Currently, fees at GEMS Wellington Primary begin at approximately Dhs43,388 for Foundation Stage 1, rising to Dhs54,691 from FS2 to Year 6.

With regards to class sizes, GEMS said that in the immediate term, until the end of the current academic year, GEMS Wellington Primary School students can expect their class sizes to remain the same.

As for the staff, it said that GEMS “will endeavour to find suitable positions at GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail for as many teachers and support staff as possible.”

In August, GEMS raised $150m in debt funding seeks to bolster its cash levels during the coronavirus pandemic.

Read: Dubai school operator GEMS raises extra debt to bolster its cash