2014-2015

Profile of an

Entrepreneur Sunny Varkey

The founder of GEMS

Education

Name :- Bibbin Benny Alex Class :- 11-E Roll No :- 11 Sharjah Indian School

Index

S.No Topic Sign

1. Introduction

2. Early Life and Education

3. Career

4. Varkey Gems Foundation

5. Varkey Group

6. Honors

7. Personal Life

8 Conclusion

9. Bibiography

Acknowledgement

First of all I would like to thank almighty

God for showering his blessings on me.

This project would have been impossible

without the kind support, guidance and

care give to me by my beloved Professor

James Thomas .I would like to give my

sincere thanks to him as well as my

parents and friends for helping me to

make this successful.

Introduction

Sunny Varkey (born in 1957 in Kerala, India) is a non-

resident Indian, Dubai-based education entrepreneur

and education philanthropist. He is the founder and

chairman of the global advisory and educational

management firm GEMS Education, which is the

largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12

schools in the world, with a network of over 130

schools in over a dozen countries. He is also the

chairman of the umbrella business organization the

Varkey Group, and the founder and trustee of the

philanthropic Varkey GEMS Foundation. As of 2012,

Varkey is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Early life and Education

Varkey was born in Kerala, India in 1957. His father,

KS, and mother, Miriamma, were Kerala Christians,

and educators. The family moved to Dubai in 1959,

when the emirate was still very undeveloped. His

father worked for British Bank of the Middle East, and

both of his parents taught English to local Arabs,

including members of the royal family. At the age of

four, Sunny was sent back to Kerala to attend a

Catholic boarding school. When he was 11 years old,

he sold fruit on the side of the road to make a little

extra money. He and his elder sister returned to

Dubai in 1970 and Sunny completed his O-

Levels at St. Mary's Catholic High School. He

pursued his A-Levels at Bembridge School in the

UK for a year, and completed his A-Levels in

Dubai at the British Council.

Career

GEMS Education

History

The discovery of oil in Dubai in 1966 brought in many foreign workers, including many from the Indian subcontinent; with the increased demand for an English-language education for the children of Indian expatriates, Varkey's parents founded Our Own English High School in Dubai in 1968. Varkey returned to Dubai in 1977, and his employment included work at Standard Chartered bank, opening a small trading company and a maintenance company, becoming part owner of the Dubai Plaza Hotel, and entering the healthcare industry. When in 1980 local authorities insisted that his parents' Our Own English High School be housed in a purpose-built facility, Varkey took over the operation of the school, which had under 400 students at the time. He soon dropped his other businesses, expanded the school, and added new schools as well. The education situation in Dubai was ripe for expansion, since local schools were only for native Arabs, and the children of the ever-increasing

number of expats needed education of their own. Varkey opened Indian, Pakistani, and British schools, and offered education under the different curricula: Indian (CBSE and ICSE), U.S., British, and later International Baccalaureate.

After creating a strong network of schools in the Gulf Arab states, in 2000 Varkey established Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), an advisory and educational management firm, in advance of his worldwide overseas expansion. In 2003, he began opening GEMS schools in England, beginning with Sherborne House in Hampshire and Bury Lawn in Milton Keynes. Soon afterwards, he took over Sherfield School in Hampshire, and purchased another 10 schools in England, mainly in the north.

In 2004, Varkey's GEMS group opened its first schools in India. Varkey continued to add schools in the subcontinent, and also purchased a controlling interest in the India-based Everonn Education, which the Varkey Group and GEMS manage. GEMS subsequently opened schools in Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Singapore, the U.S., Switzerland, and elsewhere around the globe. It is the largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, and as of 2014 has over 130 schools in over a dozen countries.

Structure and philosophy

Varkey's GEMS schools are established in various price brackets, to serve all markets and income levels. The more expensive schools have more spacious grounds and amenities such as golf and tennis facilities, and smaller class sizes. Educational quality is maintained in the budget-range schools by using excellent teachers, by efficiency and economization on time and space, and by capitalizing on economies of scale: the huge network of GEMS schools shares resources and information and provides training to teachers across the whole system. When entering into new markets GEMS schools also benefit from local partners who understand local conditions; the partners provide local knowledge that may not be obvious through standard market research. GEMS schools aim to offer a holistic education, and to instill students with values of altruism and philanthropy. GEMS Education is geared to form graduates who are forward-thinking global citizens with universal values and leadership qualities. For GEMS students, Varkey stresses an ideology and atmosphere of multiculturalism, and the importance of giving back to others both locally and globally.

GEMS Education Solutions GEMS has two divisions: schools and educational

services. GEMS Education Solutions is the consultancy

arm of GEMS Education, providing educational

services and advice, and it was established in 2011.It

works with governments and non-profits, and public

and private clients, to transform the quality of global

education and skills provision, using the resources of

GEMS' more than 50 years of experience in the field.

One of GEMS Education Solutions' projects is assisting

and advising the state school system in the United

Arab Emirates. In Ghana, it implements MGCubed –

Making Ghana Girls Great – which equips two

classrooms in each Ghanaian primary school school

with a computer, projector, satellite modem, and solar

panels, creating an interactive distance-learning

platform to deliver both formal in-school teaching and

informal after-school training. The project teaches

8,000 students in 72 Ghanaian schools, and is Sub-

Saharan Africa’s first interactive distance-learning

project. In Saudi Arabia, via the Oxford Partnership,

GEMS Education Solutions co-manages three newly

built women's vocational colleges. The three-year

diploma programmes include training in IT,

communication, basic sciences, and English language,

before moving onto specialisation and on-the-job

training.

Varkey GEMS Foundation

Varkey's strong spiritual values, and the example of his father, gave him a passion for philanthropy. In December 2010, he consolidated and structured his various donations and charitable initiatives by creating the Varkey GEMS Foundation as the philanthropic arm of GEMS. The foundation intends to impact 100 impoverished children for every child enrolled at GEMS schools, via enrollment and education-access initiatives, worldwide teacher training programs, advocacy campaigns, and physical projects such as building classrooms, schools, and learning centers Bill Clinton launched the foundation and is its honorary chairman.

In March 2011, the GEMS Foundation partnered

with UNESCO for girls'

education in Lesotho and Kenya, and donated

$1,000,000 to the effort. In September 2011, a further

$1 million was pledged with UNESCO to train 10,000

school principals in India, Ghana, and Kenya. In 2014,

the foundation's Teacher Training Programme

committed to train 250,000 teachers within 10 years

in under-served communities across the world. In

2013, the Varkey GEMS Foundation helped launch the

annual Global Education and Skills Forum, in

partnership with UNESCO and the U.A.E. Ministry of

Education Bill Clinton gave the inaugural keynote

address. Varkey hopes the annual forum will become

the "Davos of education". At the second annual forum

in March 2014, Varkey announced the Global Teacher

Prize, a $1 million award to an exceptional teacher

who has made an outstanding contribution to the

profession, to be presented at the third annual GESF in

2015.

Varkey Group

Varkey Group is the umbrella organization covering

GEMS Education and Varkey's other businesses,

including healthcare and, previously,

construction. Varkey founded the company in 1979,

and it is based in Dubai, with additional offices in the

UK, U.S., and India. In 1984 Varkey founded Welcare, a

healthcare consultancy and management venture

which developed a number of hospitals and clinics. A

controlling interest in Emirates Healthcare, the Varkey

Group's umbrella company which held Welcare, was

purchased by Mediclinic International in 2012. The

sale of his healthcare sector allowed Varkey to focus

on education and educational philanthropy.

Honors

Global Indian Business Award (2007) CEO Middle East Award – Corporate Social Responsibility (2007)

Outstanding Asian Businessman of the Year (2007) Rajiv Gandhi Award for Eminent Educationist (2008)

Padma Shri Award (2009)

Honorary Order – Public Recognition award from the Government of Russia (2011)

Middle East Excellence CEO of the Year – Knowledge Development and Education Partnership (2012)

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador (2012)

Education Business Leader of the Year, Gulf Business Industry Awards (2012)

Honorary Doctorate, Heriot-Watt University (2012)

Personal life

Varkey lives in Dubai. He is married and has two sons, Dino and Jay, who have taken leadership roles in GEMS Education, allowing him to focus on his philanthropic foundation. Varkey's sister, Susan Mathews, runs pre-schools, and his wife and mother work behind the scenes posing tough questions about all of his endeavors.His personal interests outside of work include physical fitness and custom-made fashionable attire.

Conclusion

Sunny Varkey seems to be an innovative and dynamic

entrepreneur. He is a successful entrepreneur who

achieved everything through hard work. His values

andattitude towards life is really an inspiring one. He

is really a motivation for new entrepreneur. Going

through this project I really inspired by his works and

innovations. I wish all the best for him and his group.

I am thankful to my teacher for giving me such a good

project.

Bibliography

www.wikipedia.com

www.googleimages.com

www.gulfnews.com

www.gems.com