GESS Dubai 2026 to showcase expanding GCC education market

The Global Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS) Dubai 2026 exhibition and conference is scheduled to take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from November 10 to 12, 2026. The event aims to convene education leaders, policymakers, investors, and innovators amidst a period of rapid expansion in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) education sector.

According to the ISC Research GCC International Schools Intelligence Report 2025-26, the region now hosts 1,854 international schools serving nearly 1.9 million students. Since the 2021-22 period, international school enrollment in the GCC has risen by 12.9 percent, while the number of schools has increased by 10.6 percent.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are driving much of this growth. The UAE remains the largest market, with 935 international schools serving over 934,000 students. Dubai’s Education Strategy E33 aims to facilitate the opening of 100 new schools by 2033, with over 20 applications currently under review by the KHDA. In Saudi Arabia, 120 new schools were inaugurated through private-sector partnership models during 2025.