Four friends, one vision, 16 schools and counting: Taaleem co-founder shares his UAE success story

Four friends, one vision, 16 schools and counting: Taaleem co-founder shares his UAE success story

Dr Ziad Azzam, a former teacher and school principal, told in an exclusive interview how he and three of his friends, all passionate about education, wanted to see a “fresh” ethos in education suited to UAE’s demographics and values. At the time — in 2003 — Dr Azzam was working as a management consultant at an international firm where he formed a close friendship with three colleagues. Together, he said, they planned “a movement” to bring about much-needed change in Dubai’s school landscape. “What was very important for us at the time — and we felt was probably missing — is that we wanted to build truly international schools. International not only in the demography of the student body and staff that we would attract to the schools, or in the programmes that we wanted to run, but also in the spirit of internationalism,” Dr Azzam said. This meant, he explained, “instilling within students a deeply-rooted understanding that they are citizens of either this country, or they are citizens of families who have made the UAE home, but they are also, at the same time, citizens of the world — and the responsibility that comes with that”. Most of the