---
title: "GEMS to Manage Aqaba International School from 2026/2027"
url: "https://wowjordan.com/en/2026/07/13/gems-aqaba-international-school/"
markdown_url: "https://wowjordan.com/en/2026/07/13/gems-aqaba-international-school.md"
type: "post"
date_published: "2026-07-12T22:50:51+00:00"
date_modified: "2026-07-12T23:24:21+00:00"
language: "en-US"
renderer_version: "3"
---

# GEMS to Manage Aqaba International School from 2026/2027

## Summary

Aqaba Development Corporation has signed a framework agreement with GEMS School Management to manage and operate Aqaba International School from the 2026/2027 academic year. Beyond the classroom, the agreement strengthens one of the essentials any city needs to attract executives, skilled professionals and long-term residents: credible international education. Here is what it means.

## Content

# GEMS to Manage Aqaba International School from 2026/2027: What It Means for Families, Professionals and Investors

**Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) has signed a framework agreement with GEMS School Management — the advisory and operational arm of GEMS Education — to manage and operate Aqaba International School (AIS) beginning with the 2026/2027 academic year.** Announced by ADC on 22 June 2026, the agreement places the only school offering an international curriculum in southern Jordan under the management of one of the world’s largest private education groups. For families already in Aqaba, professionals weighing a move, and companies deciding where to base regional operations, this is more than an education story. It is a signal about what kind of city Aqaba intends to become.

## What Have ADC and GEMS Agreed?

According to ADC’s announcement, the two parties have signed a **framework agreement** under which GEMS School Management will manage and operate Aqaba International School from the start of the next academic year, 2026/2027.

Two points of precision matter here. First, this is a management and operation arrangement, not a sale: no official source has described the agreement as an acquisition or a transfer of ownership, and it should not be read as one. Second, a framework agreement typically sets the overall structure of a partnership, with operational detail to follow — so some specifics of how GEMS will run the school day to day are expected to emerge as implementation progresses.

The school GEMS is taking on is already a substantial institution. AIS serves **more than 450 students** and is described by ADC as the only school offering an international curriculum in southern Jordan. It holds accreditation from the **Council of International Schools (CIS)**, has recognition from **OxfordAQA** as an examination centre, has introduced the **Cambridge Early Years** curriculum, and runs its own Arabic-language programme, **“Tamayoz.”** It is also a **candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP)** — a formal step towards IB authorisation, though not authorisation itself.

ADC has also recently completed a renovation and modernisation of the school’s internal and external facilities, meaning GEMS inherits an upgraded campus rather than a refurbishment project.

## Who Is GEMS School Management?

GEMS School Management is the division through which **GEMS Education** — a Dubai-headquartered group with more than six decades in private education and a network of over 90 schools serving more than 200,000 students — offers its operating model to schools it does not own. Its chief executive is **Robert Tarn CBE**.

In practical terms, this is the significance of the agreement for Aqaba:an established international school with recognised academic credentials will gain access to a wider international education network. now plugs into an international system for curriculum development, teacher recruitment and training, quality assurance and school leadership. For a single school in a city of Aqaba’s size, that kind of institutional backing is difficult to build independently.

### What GEMS Could Bring to AIS

Based on how school-management arrangements of this kind generally work, and on the priorities ADC has set out, GEMS’s involvement is likely to concentrate on:

- **Academic systems** — supporting the school’s progress from IB PYP candidacy towards authorisation, and deepening its existing Cambridge and OxfordAQA programmes.
- **People** — access to international recruitment networks and structured professional development for teachers and school leaders.
- **Capacity** — operational planning for the expansion to 700 students envisaged in the school’s development plan.

None of this guarantees particular academic outcomes — no management agreement can — but it changes the resources and expertise available to the school as it grows.

## Why International Education Matters to Aqaba’s Economy

A strong international school is not only an educational facility. It is part of the infrastructure a city needs to compete for investment.

When a company evaluates Aqaba — for logistics, tourism, industry or services — its decision-makers ask the same practical questions as any relocating family: *Where will our children go to school? Will their qualifications transfer if we move again?* An internationally accredited school answers those questions. Without one, a city can attract capital but struggles to attract the executives and specialists who come with it, or it forces companies into costly arrangements such as split families and education allowances paid towards schools in Amman or abroad.

ADC has positioned the agreement in exactly these terms: as part of Aqaba’s investment-attraction agenda, aimed at the skilled professionals and families the special economic zone needs to draw and retain. Seen this way, the GEMS agreement sits alongside ports, hotels, housing and healthcare as a competitiveness decision — a deliberate investment in the “soft infrastructure” that converts short-term postings into long-term residence.

## What the Agreement Means for Families Living in Aqaba

For current AIS families, the confirmed picture is one of continuity plus added capability. The school’s existing credentials — CIS accreditation, OxfordAQA examination-centre status, Cambridge Early Years, the Tamayoz Arabic programme — are the foundation the agreement builds on, not things it replaces. The change families should notice over time is in what sits behind the school: management systems, teacher development and curriculum planning drawn from a large international network.

For [families considering a move to Aqaba](https://wowjordan.com/en/aqaba-family-travel-guide/), the practical takeaway is that southern Jordan’s only international-curriculum school will be operated by a globally recognised education group from 2026/2027. For internationally mobile parents, an operator with an established international school network may give relocating families greater familiarity and confidence makes Aqaba an easier city to say yes to.

One point deserves honest clarity: AIS is a **candidate** school for the IB Primary Years Programme. Candidacy is a defined stage in the IB’s authorisation process during which a school implements the programme framework under IB guidance; it is not the same as being an authorised IB World School. Families for whom IB status is decisive should follow the school’s progress towards full authorisation rather than assume it.

## The 2025–2030 Development Plan

ADC’s announcement frames the agreement within a development plan for 2025–2030 with specific ambitions:

- expanding school capacity from more than 450 students to **700 students**
- advancing the **International Baccalaureate** track from PYP candidacy
- broadening **extracurricular activities**
- investing in **technology and innovation**
- strengthening **leadership capacity** within the school

Combined with the recently completed campus renovation, the plan describes a school being scaled up deliberately over five years — with GEMS brought in as the operator to deliver that scaling.

## What Remains Unclear

As with most framework agreements at announcement stage, several details have not yet been made public. These are not criticisms of the agreement; they are the questions families and stakeholders will reasonably want answered as implementation proceeds:

- the **duration** of the operating agreement
- its **financial structure**, including management fees
- whether **tuition fees** will change under GEMS management
- any **staffing or leadership changes** at the school
- the detailed **implementation timeline** for the transition
- the expected **timetable for full IB PYP authorisation**
- any **measurable performance targets** GEMS has committed to

WowJordan will update this article as ADC, GEMS or the school publish further details.

## Aqaba as a Place to Live, Work and Invest

For years, Aqaba’s international reputation has rested on the Red Sea: [diving](https://wowjordan.com/en/south-beach-aqaba/), [beaches](https://wowjordan.com/en/best-beaches-in-aqaba/), resorts and its role as Jordan’s gateway to Petra and Wadi Rum. But the city’s actual trajectory is broader — a special economic zone with a deep-water port, industrial and logistics investment, and large mixed-use developments such as [Ayla](https://wowjordan.com/en/ayla-aqaba-things-to-do/) that are designed for residents, not just visitors.

The GEMS agreement fits that trajectory. Cities compete for people as much as for capital, and people choose cities that work as complete places: somewhere to be employed, housed, treated when ill and — decisively, for anyone with children — educated to a standard that travels. By contracting an international operator for the city’s international school, ADC is addressing one of the most common gaps in secondary cities’ relocation propositions.

Developments like this one — in education, healthcare, housing, transport and business infrastructure — are part of how WowJordan covers Aqaba: not only as a destination to visit, but as a place readers may be assessing as somewhere to live, work and invest. Understanding a city’s schools, in that sense, is as much a part of understanding Aqaba as knowing its hotels and dive sites.

The framework agreement between ADC and GEMS School Management will ultimately be judged by what happens inside classrooms from September 2026 onwards. But as a statement of intent, its meaning is already clear: Aqaba is building the institutions of a city people move to — not just one they pass through.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Who will manage Aqaba International School from 2026/2027?** GEMS School Management, the advisory and operational arm of GEMS Education, will manage and operate Aqaba International School from the beginning of the 2026/2027 academic year, under a framework agreement signed with Aqaba Development Corporation and announced on 22 June 2026.

**Has GEMS bought Aqaba International School?** No official source describes the agreement as a sale or acquisition. ADC announced a framework agreement for GEMS School Management to manage and operate the school; ownership has not been described as changing.

**Is Aqaba International School an IB school?** AIS is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP). Candidacy is a formal stage in the IB authorisation process, but it is not the same as being an authorised IB World School. The school’s 2025–2030 development plan includes further IB development.

**What curricula and accreditations does Aqaba International School have?** The school is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS), holds OxfordAQA examination-centre recognition, has introduced the Cambridge Early Years curriculum, runs the “Tamayoz” Arabic-language programme, and is an IB PYP candidate school. ADC describes it as the only school offering an international curriculum in southern Jordan.

**Will tuition fees change under GEMS management?** No information about tuition fees has been published as part of the announcement. Fee structure, agreement duration and implementation details are among the points expected to become clearer as the agreement is put into effect.

*This article is based on publicly available information issued by Aqaba Development Corporation and GEMS School Management. WowJordan is an independent destination platform and is not an official representative of ADC, GEMS Education or Aqaba International School.*

**Official sources** :

- [Aqaba Development Corporation announcement](https://www.adc.jo/News.aspx?id=866)
- [GEMS Education announcement](https://gems-sm.com/)

## Classification

- **Category:** Live, Work & Invest
- **Tag:** ADC, education in Aqaba, international schools

## Images

![GEMS × Aqaba International School](https://wowjordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GEMS-SCHOOL-AQABA.png)