Alef Education has expanded its footprint in the UAE’s private education market through new agreements with five school groups that will bring its artificial intelligence-driven learning tools to more than 33,000 students. The Abu Dhabi-based education technology company said the rollout will span 28 campuses, marking one of its largest private-sector expansions in the country to date. The move strengthens Alef’s position beyond public education and signals growing demand among private operators for data-led classroom technology.
Scope of the Agreements
The partnerships cover Al Shola Schools Group, Al Hikma Schools Group, International Community Schools, Victoria International Schools, and Athena Group. Under the agreements, these operators will implement a mix of Alef’s digital learning products, supported by teacher training and live performance insights designed to help schools track progress more closely. The initiative is aimed at improving teaching consistency and student outcomes while giving educators faster visibility into learning gaps.
School Group Breakdown
Athena Group will account for the largest share of the rollout, with more than 12,500 students across nine schools set to use the company’s platforms. Al Shola Group will introduce the solutions to more than 6,700 students in five schools, while Al Hikma Group will deploy the technology across four schools for nearly 5,700 students. International Community Schools will extend the services to more than 5,000 students across six schools, and Victoria International Schools will provide access to about 3,000 students.
Platform Mix and Learning Model
The deployment includes Alef Platform, the company’s core digital learning system, along with Arabic-focused products Abjadiyat and Arabits in selected schools. Alef Platform is designed to combine curriculum delivery, assessment, and exam preparation in one system, while linking students, teachers, and parents through real-time academic data. Abjadiyat focuses on Arabic literacy for native speakers, and Arabits is intended to support non-native speakers through interactive language instruction tailored to skill level.
Performance Evidence
Alef is building its private-school expansion on performance data from its work in the UAE’s public education system. According to the company, students classified under ESSA Tier 2 in Abu Dhabi recorded a 12.1 percent improvement in final exam performance when using the Alef Platform, while users of Alef Pathways showed a 5.67 percent academic gain. Those results are central to Alef’s case that its model can deliver measurable impact across different school systems and learner profiles.
Strategic Significance
The expansion also aligns with wider national goals to modernize education, strengthen academic outcomes, and prepare students for a more digital economy. By moving deeper into the private sector, Alef is extending a model that has already gained traction in government schools and adapting it for a broader range of curricula and institutional structures. The agreements suggest that private school operators are increasingly willing to invest in AI-based tools that combine personalized learning with actionable classroom data.
Founded in 2016 and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange under the symbol ALEFEDT, Alef Education says it now serves more than 1.8 million students and 80,000 educators across 18,000 schools in the UAE, Indonesia, and Morocco. Its latest UAE partnerships underscore how regional education providers are shifting from pilot-stage experimentation toward larger-scale digital adoption, particularly in platforms that promise both personalization and measurable academic gains. For the private schools involved, the rollout represents not only a technology upgrade, but also a bet that AI-supported instruction can become a core part of mainstream K-12 learning.