Having invested heavily in new facilities and programmes over the past five years, Taaleem has yet to make a profit.

But according to its business model, the payback point will be reached in 2014, after which the firm is predicting rates of return at 15-18 per cent. However, its desire to consolidate is not preventing it from continuing to expand, moving into management services where capital spending is much lower than building new schools.

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It is no surprise that the opening of some new institutions has been delayed in the wake of the UAE property slump. But this has given Taaleem more time to focus on the highly promising management market. The fragmented and varying standards of education provision in the region ensure that Taaleem has plenty of opportunities to supply its services. 

In the short term, one of the biggest challenges for Taaleem will be managing its cost structure as Dubai’s local education authority, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), tightly controls school fees.

A row over KHDA’s decision to freeze fees for 2010-11 culminated in the UAE Education Ministry stepping in to re-evaluate proposals from several schools and ultimately allowing increases to go through.

In the longer term, private education providers are seeking an open market. This is being discussed at federal level, but change will not happen overnight, and, until then, fees for Taaleem’s schools and other providers will remain under the tight control of the local authorities.