The pathway provider has announced a series of key partnerships this week, including agreements with UK universities, language schools and online learning platforms, in the wake of a major event highlighting the provision of medical education across borders.
Educational leaders, policymakers and dignitaries gathered to discuss the importance of TNE in medical education at the UK-Pakistan Educational Partnerships Forum, held at London’s historic Society of Medicine on May 20.
Shining a light on GEMS Middle East’s MedStart program, which offers an online or in-person City & Guilds-accredited foundation pathway for students pursuing a career in medicine, the event was opened by Labour peer Lord Boateng, who called for transnational educational collaboration as a moral imperative for achieving global health equity.
It follows major new agreements between GEMS and other stakeholders, including:
- City & Guilds: Expansion of credentialing and QA for GEMS MedStart and aligned clinical programmes.
- ES Global and FutureLearn: Strategic delivery of digital learning modules and microcredentials tailored for healthcare pathways.
- University of Surrey: New MoU to deepen collaboration, with specific emphasis on support for Pakistani students and expansion of top-up offerings.
- University of Greenwich: New multi-region articulation agreements, with expansion into Iraq and the UAE.
“We know that healthcare transformation begins with education. Where there is political will or financial need, GEMS has the infrastructure to respond quickly and meaningfully,” said Abdulqader Naeem, country manager for Denning Centre for Professional Training.
The forum concluded with an evening reception hosted by GEMS Education UAE at the historic British Academy in London, where Pakistan’s education minister Wajiha Qamar led her country’s delegation. Other guests included officials, education leaders and dignitaries from across Pakistan, the Middle East and the UK, including FutureLearn chair Lord Jo Johnson.
Pakistan needs enduring partnerships to create an education system that meets the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow
Wajiha Qamar
The event aimed to strengthen international collaboration in advancing technical and vocational education and promoting innovation in Pakistan’s education system.
In her keynote address, Qamar highlighted the need to supercharge Pakistan’s education sector through inclusive, future-ready, and skill-based learning frameworks. With a growing youth population, currently with 64% aged under 30, she stressed that more must be done to help Pakistan meet its commitments to young people.
“We must move beyond short-term solutions,” she said. “Pakistan needs enduring partnerships to create an education system that meets the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow.”
