Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
A new school campus is being built in Bahrain for the arrival of King’s Group, one of the world’s most prestigious international educational institutions.
The school, which will be constructed on land measuring 25,000sqm, is expected to be completed by the second half of 2018 and will cater to 1,700 pupils once at full capacity.
“Having been at the forefront of British education internationally for almost 50 years, primarily in the UK, Europe and Latin America, it was only natural that we look to the GCC to continue our growth,” said Nicholas Fry, vice chairman of King’s Group. “We firmly believe in the future and potential of this country.”
King’s Group currently has nine schools in the UK, Spain, Panama and Latvia, as well as a network of UK academies.
The Bahrain campus is being built in partnership with Bin Faqeeh Education on the outskirts of Manama. Once construction work has been completed an opening school date has been projected for no later than September 2019.
Like its sister schools in the King’s Group, the college in Bahrain will offer the UK national curriculum and the students will learn from native British and British-trained teachers.
The college will ‘grow organically’ and will initially offer places for younger children and as these pupils get older, they will progress through the school until eventually all year groups will be available, catering up to Year 13, student aged 18.
Nicholas said it was ‘with great pleasure’ that King’s Group begins this venture with Bin Faqeeh Education. “We are delighted to be in alliance with such a strong partner,” he added.
The Bahrain-based company forms part of an extensive portfolio of businesses spearheaded by Faisal Abdulwahid Faqeeh, a prominent Bahraini businessman.
“Bin Faqeeh Education represents our premier venture into the education field, and we are very pleased to be taking this step along such an established and well-respected partner as King’s Group,” said Faisal.
Nicholas’s father Sir Roger Fry, knighted in 2012 by Queen Elizabeth II for promoting British education internationally, founded the first King’s College school in 1969, and the group’s schools now attract more than 4,300 students in total. Around 40 per cent of its students currently attend one of the Top 200 universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education Ranking Tables.
The main goals as an educational institution are to provide students with a rigorous and comprehensive education and to live the group’s vision of being ‘at the forefront of British education internationally’.
