Meet The Team

Chairman/CEO of Paramount For Educational Support Services.

Dr. Othman Abdalbari is the Chairman and founder of Paramount Education - Dubai (PE), and has been a prominent UAE businessman and educator since 1989. His role is a blend of being a 1) strategic visionary for our portfolio of schools and training/support services to the public and private education sectors, 2) major investor and board member (chair or vice-chair) in each PE-affiliated school (described below), 3) head of investor-relations, acquisitions, business analytics, market-analysis and strategic partnerships for PE, 4) providing strategic oversight/support/accountability over facilities, budgeting, operations at contracted services jointly with PE schools Principals, and 5) provider of selected training and professional development within PE’s menu of support services.

“Dr. Othman” began his distinguished career as a teacher of Chemistry in 1989. He grew through the ranks from 1995 to 2003, becoming Department Head for Sciences, Deputy Principal and subsequently Principal.

In 2003, he became director, founder and partner at the American International School (AIS) Dubai, where he also served as the school’s Principal until it was acquired in 2018 by a multi-school education group.

In 2015, he co-founded the Modern American International School (MAIS) in Sharjah, currently with an enrollment of approximately 1000 students. More recently, he has co-founded two schools in their relative infancy of development, the Al Ghaf Private School in Dubai and the Royal Canadian School in New Cairo, Egypt, each less than four years old and phasing in grades as they grow per their respective strategic plans.

He is also founder and partner of the World Canadian School that is in development and expected to open in Casablanca, Morocco in 2024. He has business interests and robust experience in other market sectors beyond “education”, from which we draw upon to inform our own business model and services delivery.

Dr. Othman holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Leadership, an M.A. in Management, and a B.S. in Chemistry. He stays “current” through a blend of 1) regular learning walks at the three operating PE schools, 2) PD sessions conducted by the schools’ professionals and distinguished colleagues at PE, 3) attending professional workshops and conferences in the MENA region, 4) the process of self-evaluation and school improvement at PE schools, 5) voracious reading on all matters related to educational leadership and 6) through periodic service on accreditation visiting teams on behalf of American-based accreditation agencies.

Chief Academic Officer & Senior Policy Advisor.

As Chief Academic Officer for Paramount’s international curriculum schools, “Dr. Ken” is responsible for assuring the overall quality of Paramount’s academic programs, increasing sophistication in data-driven decision making across schools, raising the efficacy of governance practices and policies in support of our schools, and assisting our Principals in accreditation and inspection preparation, and overall school improvement planning.

As Senior Policy Advisor/Trainer for the Services Division, Dr. Ken assesses program quality of potential acquisition schools for valuation, provides strategic direction in the founding of new schools, develops major policies for both academics and operations across our schools, answers requests for proposals to compete for our services, and conducts trainings, presentations and organizational “needs assessments” for various education stakeholders as a contracted consultant and professional conference presenter. His training specialization areas include school ownership/governance practices, school policy development, effective use and interpretation of standardized test data, school improvement planning/implementation, accreditation/inspection preparation and effective government agency oversight of educational programs.

Dr. Ken has an earned Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, an M.S. in Statistical Research, Measurement and Evaluation, and a B.S. in Business & Economics , with research publications in the analysis of educational achievement gaps and empirical aspects of school finance. He is a peer review scholar for academic journals and a doctoral dissertation coach for methodology and academic writing. He has led 37 accreditation teams to international schools across 25 countries on 5 continents.

He has served in senior school and cluster leadership roles in Middle East and Far East contexts which implemented either American, British, Canadian and IPC curricula, and where aspects of national ministry curriculum components were woven in. He has served as a university professor of educational leadership and statistics, and has been a large-scale, ministerial-level, education program leader. He holds an active school/district/cluster administrative certification from the USA and has been authorized/approved by ministerial authorities to serve in senior leader roles in jurisdictions in the Middle East and East Asia.

Logistics and Operations Advisor/Contracts & Compliance Officer

Receptionist.