Rob Stokoe to win GESS Lifetime Achievement Award

Rob Stokoe, managing director of the Al Futtaim Education Foundation, and former director of Jumeirah English Speaking School, will receive the GESS Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Taaleem, during GESS Dubai 2017 in March.

Selected by a panel of educators, Stokoe is a well-known educator with a proven track record of success, developing and leading one of the most successful school groups in the UAE.

He has been instrumental in curriculum design working with both the National Curriculum for England and the IB, and is a founder member of the KHDA-led What Works initiative in Dubai.

Commenting on the win, Stokoe said: "It is a lovely surprise. I'm thrilled to get an award from colleagues."

Taaleem director of communications Clive Pierrepont said: "We are particularly pleased that our international panel of respected and renowned educators have chosen Rob as this year's recipient. Rob spent 16 successful years with Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) in Dubai and then moved to be executive director of Avondale Grammar School Singapore. He recently returned to the UAE to take up the post of managing director Al Futtaim Education Foundation, a nonprofit organisation.

His collaboration at both local and national government level has influenced education policies and practice in the region and beyond.

This was recognised when he was awarded the OBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in in her 2015 birthday honours list. He is an exceptional person who came from humble beginnings, trained to be an accountant but then found his true vocation as an educator because he wanted to 'Make a Difference'. I hope that the Taaleem sponsored Lifetime Achievement Award gives further recognition to the fact that he has achieved his ambition and has made a difference to many people's lives globally."