GEMS Education and Oracle Sign MoU to Train 11,000 UAE Students in AI

GEMS Education and Oracle have signed a memorandum of understanding that puts UAE secondary students on Oracle University’s Skills Development Initiative (SDI), with a target of training at least 11,000 learners over three years and certifying half of them. The MoU makes GEMS the first private school network globally to join the program, which until now has run through governments, universities, and non-profits rather than K-12 operators.

The deal hands GEMS secondary students and alumni access to Oracle’s MyLearn platform, free certification exam attempts, and structured learning paths in AI, cloud computing, data, and cybersecurity, the same curriculum Oracle typically reserves for higher-education students and working professionals.

The Deal in Detail

The MoU, announced in Dubai in June 2026, runs GEMS schools into Oracle University’s SDI at no cost to learners. The agreement is described as a “long-term, non-exclusive collaboration” that leaves room for additional partners later.

Oracle brings curriculum and certifications; GEMS brings the students and the classroom pipeline, according to the full GEMS and Oracle announcement. Participants move through “step-by-step progressive learning pathways” on Oracle MyLearn, from awareness to capability to certification. The platform issues digital badges and free certification exam attempts.

Once certified, learners gain “industry-recognised credentials” meant to feed university applications and career competitiveness. The MoU makes the access cost-free for both coursework and certification attempts. GEMS runs schools for more than 200,000 students from over 176 nationalities, with nearly half a million alumni, and remains family-led from Dubai, where it was founded in 1959.

GEMS Becomes SDI’s First Private School Network

The MoU marks the first time Oracle’s SDI has been extended to a private school network. Until now, the program has partnered with governments, public universities, and workforce initiatives, not fee-paying secondary schools.

SDI’s published partner list includes India’s Tamil Nadu state government, the Government of Morocco, Greece’s Ministry of Digital Governance, the UK-Ukraine TechBridge program, and Mexico’s Tec de Monterrey. The program has also reached Azerbaijan, where a digital LevelUP scheme has trained 500-plus participants. None of those are private school networks.

The GEMS MoU opens the door to a population the program was not originally designed for: teenagers who are still completing compulsory schooling. The deal pairs one of the world’s leading private K-12 operators with a global enterprise vendor, a structure SDI has not previously run with any partner. The shift asks Oracle to defend its certification standards against a younger, less self-directed learner cohort.

Both sides describe the move in language usually reserved for national workforce strategies. “The future competitiveness of nations will be defined by their ability to develop digitally fluent, innovation-minded talent,” Dino Varkey, Group CEO of GEMS Education, said in the announcement. The structure of the deal, a national-scale private operator plus a global enterprise vendor, suggests the next frontier for Oracle’s SDI is K-12, not professional upskilling alone. The question is whether the same certification standards survive the move down the age range.

The Tracks on Oracle MyLearn

The MyLearn tracks available to GEMS students cover what Oracle describes as the high-demand foundations of the current enterprise stack. The list includes foundations of AI and generative AI, cloud computing fundamentals, data platforms and analytics, cybersecurity, and enterprise applications such as ERP, HCM, and CX. These are the same tracks that show up in Oracle’s AI training and certification catalog aimed at professionals and university learners, as laid out on Oracle University’s MyLearn platform overview. Oracle positions the content as structured learning that progresses from foundation to advanced levels, with hands-on labs available through the platform. The catalog also pairs the courses with role-specific certification paths.

Each track ends in an industry-recognised credential. Participants can earn digital badges and take several certification exam attempts for free. The MoU sets a target of certifying 50% of participants who enroll, which would put roughly half the cohort on a credential-bearing path. The agreement covers both currently enrolled GEMS students and GEMS alumni returning to the program.

• Foundations of AI and generative AI
• Cloud computing fundamentals
• Data platforms and analytics
• Cybersecurity
• Enterprise applications (ERP, HCM, CX)

Why the 11,000 and 50% Targets Matter

The headline number is the learner target: a minimum of 11,000 GEMS students and alumni trained over three years. The target uses the word “minimum,” and the agreement leaves room for GEMS to scale beyond it.

The second number, a 50% certification rate, sets the credential floor. Half of those enrolled are expected to earn an industry-recognised certification. That ratio matters because the MoU names an outcome metric, not just an enrollment metric.

For comparison, Oracle’s Naan Mudhalvan program with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has registered, trained, and certified more than 52,000 students since January 2024, the Skills Development Initiative page states. The UK-Ukraine TechBridge initiative has committed to training and upskilling up to 40,000 Ukrainians. GEMS’s 11,000 sits well below those cohort sizes, but its target population is younger and the program is paid for entirely by Oracle. The asymmetry is the bet: Oracle underwrites curriculum at scale, and GEMS feeds it a captive student body.

• 11,000 minimum learners over three years (MoU target)
• 50% certification rate (MoU target)
• 52,000+ students registered through Oracle’s Naan Mudhalvan partnership with Tamil Nadu since January 2024
• Up to 40,000 Ukrainians targeted by the UK-Ukraine TechBridge initiative

Where SDI Has Run Before

Oracle launched SDI to close the digital skills gap by working with governments, NGOs, and national agencies on joint talent pipelines. The GEMS deal extends that template into fee-paying secondary education for the first time.

In India, Oracle University has partnered with the Tamil Nadu government’s Naan Mudhalvan program since January 2024. More than 52,000 students have registered, been trained, and received credits toward degree completion, according to the Skills Development Initiative program page. The program targets young people in one of India’s largest state-level workforce schemes.

The UK-Ukraine TechBridge program aims to connect UK and Ukrainian technology businesses and provide technical training, with a commitment to train and upskill up to 40,000 Ukrainians. In Morocco, Oracle is working with two federal ministries under the country’s PACTE ESRI 2030 transformation plan, providing complementary digital professional learning journeys and certifications through a dedicated portal. In Azerbaijan, the StrategEast Digital LevelUP Program, delivered with IDDA, has equipped 500-plus participants with job-ready IT skills across five high-demand tracks, supported by international certification. Greece’s Ministry of Digital Governance is also offering citizens free online training through Oracle, the SDI page shows.

The UAE has its own parallel push on AI infrastructure, including the UAE’s sovereign AI test lab for vetting government models and a wider national strategy that pairs talent programs with safety frameworks. None of those earlier SDI programs delivered training to fee-paying secondary schools as their core audience.

• Tamil Nadu, India (Naan Mudhalvan, since January 2024)
• UK and Ukraine (TechBridge, up to 40,000 trainees)
• Government of Morocco (PACTE ESRI 2030)
• Greece (Ministry of Digital Governance)
• Azerbaijan (StrategEast Digital LevelUP, 500-plus participants)
• Mexico (Tec de Monterrey)
• UK Veterans (weServed and AiCore)
• Zamfara State Government, Nigeria

Open Questions on the Rollout

SDI was built around adult learners and university students who can sit through long-form certification paths. Moving that model down to secondary students, who balance coursework, exams, and extracurriculars, is a different operating environment. Oracle’s published curriculum, with role-specific courses and live sessions, was not originally designed for that rhythm.

The MoU names targets but does not disclose a curriculum calendar, an assessment cadence, or how Oracle MyLearn integrates with GEMS’s existing academic schedule. None of the public reporting on the deal names a start date or the cohort size per intake. Public reporting also does not describe how Oracle and GEMS will measure whether the 50% certification rate is met year over year. Both figures are MoU targets, not commitments, and may run higher or lower once the rollout begins.

Leopoldo Boado Lama, Senior Vice President, Middle East and Africa at Oracle, framed the deal as a way to give students “the same foundational technology skills and credentials” that universities and employers value. Whether a 16-year-old can sit the same exam as a working professional is the test that runs through the next three years.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Oracle’s Skills Development Initiative?

Oracle’s Skills Development Initiative (SDI) is a program run by Oracle University that provides free access to digital learning paths and foundational certifications in AI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity. According to Oracle’s SDI page, the program collaborates with governments, NGOs, and national agencies to develop local technology talent and support job placements. The initiative’s published partner list spans India, Morocco, Greece, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Nigeria.

What will GEMS students learn?

Students on the GEMS SDI track get access to Oracle MyLearn courses in foundations of AI and generative AI, cloud computing fundamentals, data platforms and analytics, cybersecurity, and enterprise applications including ERP, HCM, and CX. The full curriculum sits inside Oracle’s AI training and certification catalog aimed at professionals and university learners.

Is the Oracle certification free for GEMS students?

Yes. The MoU makes Oracle MyLearn access and certification exam fees themselves free for GEMS secondary students and alumni. Participants can earn digital badges and take several certification exam attempts at no cost. Once they pass, they hold an Oracle-issued credential that is the same one working professionals take.

How is this different from Oracle’s existing SDI programs?

Earlier SDI programs ran with governments, public universities, and workforce initiatives, including the Naan Mudhalvan scheme in Tamil Nadu and the UK-Ukraine TechBridge. The GEMS MoU is the first to extend the program to a private school network and to fee-paying secondary students.

How many students will the program reach?

The MoU sets a target of training at least 11,000 GEMS secondary students and alumni over three years, with a 50% certification rate among participants. Both figures are MoU targets, and the deal leaves room for GEMS to scale beyond them. The agreement is described as a long-term, non-exclusive collaboration.