As the elder of the two sons of Sunny Varkey, founder and chairman of GEMS Education, which runs a staggering 150 schools with over 200,000 students across several countries, Dino being on board the hugely successful global educational enterprise was perhaps a foregone conclusion.
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Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
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#UAEnews #education #Dubai
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00:00My grandparents were teachers. I think anybody that chooses to be a teacher is driven by passion, is driven by vocation, and is driven by wanting to help.
00:11It was at the time that Dubai was looking to open up their economy.
00:16There was a very clear understanding amongst the leadership that their people would need to be able to speak English.
00:22There was somebody in His Highness Sheikh Rashid's court that said,
00:26well I know a guy, that guy happened to be my grandfather.
00:29They came here initially to tutor adults, basic English and maths.
00:33In 1968 they were able to build and run their very first school, our own, in Bastakiya,
00:42which today still exists, albeit it's in Alwerka.
00:45So that was the beginning of, I suppose, any journey.
00:50So my grandparents obviously founded the first school,
00:52which in itself was an incredible achievement for them,
00:55given that they were teachers and not necessarily business folk.
00:58It was only when my father returned from the UK that he saw an opportunity,
01:02not only to fulfil a commercial imperative, but a social imperative as well,
01:07and has brought us and led us to where we are today,
01:10which is the largest private K-12 education company in the world.
01:14We're very proud of the fact that we're a Dubai and a UA-born brand.
01:18When I've always articulated what are the values that the family holds dear,
01:23and I've said it previously, it's passion, ambition, humility, and it is about faith.
01:29So those are the things that were represented, were told to us,
01:34that we would learn from in any settings.
01:37When I think about passion and or ambition,
01:41passion comes from the fact that my grandparents were teachers.
01:48I think anybody that chooses to be a teacher is driven by passion,
01:52is driven by vocation, and is driven by wanting to help.
01:55So that was very, very evident when I looked at my grandparents,
02:00and it was very evident when you look at my father.
02:02To be as driven and to have built the enterprise that we have,
02:09to have created some of the things that we have that have had global impact,
02:15requires an incredible amount of dedication, an incredible amount of sacrifice.
02:19The role of the chief executive is well established.
02:23I would hope that I'm mostly required to be a symbol and a signal for the organization
02:35to be able to articulate both to our internal and external stakeholders
02:40exactly who we are, who we want to be, and what we want to try and achieve,
02:44why we want to achieve the things that we do.
02:47If I was to give you the very broad answer,
02:50it's basically responsibility for ensuring that we're delivering on the expectations
02:56of all of our key stakeholders, whether that is our shareholders, our board,
03:00our families, and our students, or our people,
03:04and the people that work for us each and every day.
03:07When you ask the question, what was it like growing up as the son of Sonny Varkey,
03:12honestly, I grew up in a family that prioritized above everything else
03:20the value of education, the impact that education can have
03:26in enabling families and communities to aspire to much greater things.
03:31I always joke with people that my father is the consummate founder-entrepreneur,
03:39I'm probably the typical professional, and my brother is the techie.
03:45So very complementary skills when you consider the ambition and aspiration
03:50that we have to try and change the world through education.
03:53When I was advising young people today, I would always tell them
03:56to do what they're incredibly passionate about,
03:59because so much of what you will do in later life,
04:03you will actually learn based on the real experiences that you will have.
04:08Yes, it's wonderful to have the theory, but in this day and age,
04:12you've got an entire life to learn the theory.
04:15You'll always be learning, so when you think about university,
04:19certainly for generations today and future generations, go and do what you love.