MindChamps to open nursery in Abu Dhabi

Its first outlet in the Middle East can admit 192 children and will employ 35 teachers.

Singapore education firm MindChamps will help to nurture young minds in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when it opens its first nursery in the Middle East in April next year.

MindChamps Nursery will be housed in a purpose-built two-storey building of 1,100 sq m in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

It will be able to admit 192 children aged 11/2 months to four years old and employ around 35 teachers.

The nursery is a collaboration between MindChamps and Bloom Education, the education division of Abu Dhabi-based developer Bloom Holdings.

The companies plan to open 10 more nurseries over the next five years in the UAE, including another nursery in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai.

"There is a gap globally for early childhood (education) and MindChamps is very big on creating a model that is based on scientific research," said Mr David Chiem, founder, chairman and group chief executive officer of MindChamps.

He noted that research shows that the optimal way of nurturing a child is through language acquisition, nurturing the mind and learning how to learn.

It "transfers quite easily into every part of the world", he added.

Mr Henning Fries, chief executive officer of Bloom Education, said: "When we went to scout the world for the thought-leaders in that field, naturally, we ended up coming to Singapore, where we're very fortunate to forge a relationship with somebody that's already proven that, in a very competitive environment, that model of education works extremely well."

He added: "There is no doubt that the unique and highly effective education model MindChamps has perfected will have tremendous success within the Middle East."

MindChamps has 33 pre-schools in Singapore. It also has two pre-schools in Manila in the Philippines and two reading and writing centres in Sydney, Australia.

Media company Singapore Press Holdings bought a stake in MindChamps in 2014.

Read more: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/mindchamps-to-open-nursery-in-abu-dhabi