(By Dr. Naeem Ul Hassan)
For more than 35 years, she has opened doors — first to a classroom of toddlers, then to a school of thousands, and finally to universities that span continents. This is the story of the woman who helped build Dubai’s higher education landscape, one campus, one partnership and one student at a time.
Some people choose a career. Others build an entire field around them.
When Dr. Mariam Shaikh opened a small preschool in the United Arab Emirates in the early 1980s, Dubai’s skyline was a fraction of what it is today, and the idea of the city as a global education hub was still a distant dream. Four decades later, that dream is reality — and her fingerprints are on much of it.
Today she is the Founder and CEO of MS Education Consultants, an educator honoured on three continents, and a trusted bridge between students in the Gulf and universities across the world. Yet ask those who know her what defines her, and the answer is rarely a title. It is her belief that every student deserves a pathway forward.
FROM ONE CLASSROOM TO 7,000 STUDENTS
Her journey began where all learning begins: with the very young. Running her own preschool taught her the fundamentals that would guide every later role — patience, structure, and a deep respect for each child’s potential.
She then stepped up to lead a well-known school group as Principal. Under her leadership the school grew exponentially, becoming one of the largest Asian schools in the UAE at the time, with more than 7,000 students on its rolls.
For most educators, that would have been the crowning achievement of a career. For Dr. Mariam, it was a launchpad.
A PIONEER OF DUBAI’S UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES
In the early 2000s, Dubai’s higher education sector was taking its first steps. Dr. Mariam saw the opportunity and moved in at the ground floor.
One of her earliest pioneering efforts was setting up one of the very first overseas university branch campuses in Dubai, for the University of New Brunswick in Canada. It was a blueprint she would refine again and again.
She went on to hold senior leadership roles at the Canadian University of Dubai, Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus and Amity University Dubai. At each, she led the start-up phase and drove rapid growth in student numbers — growth that ultimately justified full-fledged campus facilities.
She also hosted global business challenge competitions that brought international students to the UAE. And she was among the first to activate the “Study in Dubai” initiative, recruiting 120 Chinese students to study in the city.
MS EDUCATION CONSULTANTS: DECADES OF EXPERIENCE, ONE MISSION
In 2020 she channelled everything she had learned into her own venture, MS Education Consultants. Headquartered in the UAE, the firm exists to give students and institutions pathways to global opportunity.
Its work spans student recruitment from the UAE and GCC, advisory for new education entities, university and career fairs, training programmes, student internships and entrepreneurial initiatives, and cultural exchange programmes.
The partnerships speak for themselves:
- University of Guelph, Canada — Middle East Strategist since September 2021
- Toronto Metropolitan University — Middle East Regional Representative from 2023
- Georgian Global Training Hub of Excellence – Facilitated the launch of the Hub in 2024
- Kean University, New Jersey, USA — official UAE representative this year
Beyond these, she has brokered articulation agreements linking UAE institutions with universities in Europe, China, Canada, Australia and the USA. She serves as Chair for Edu-Connect and Ambassador of the Canadian Business Council Dubai, and as an Advisory Member for Higher Education on the G100 Global Advisory Council. She is also part of the UAE-Africa Initiative Network — a link that holds real promise for students across our continent.
THE HEART BEHIND THE WORK
Strip away the campuses and the titles, and what remains is a woman who simply loves helping students succeed. Over her career she has guided young people from more than 100 nationalities, encouraging them to chase their goals and give back to their communities.
Her compassion reaches those with the fewest options. Working with UNHCR, she has helped provide scholarships for refugee students — proof that, for her, access to education is not a privilege but a right.
She is equally a champion of women. A keen supporter of women in business, she is featured among the UAE’s leading women entrepreneurial leaders and is a Distinguished Member of the Indian Women Dubai network. Her voice is regularly heard as a keynote speaker, digital spokesperson and panellist on higher education, and she has travelled widely with foreign delegations to forge ties between institutions.
A LEGACY STILL BEING WRITTEN
The world has taken notice. In 2020 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Transformational Educational Leadership, and she was later named the first Ambassador of the Canadian Business Council Dubai. Her shelf of honours has grown every year since. Among the highlights:
- 2026 — Iconic Visionary Woman Honoree, Visionary Women Awards; Top International Women Entrepreneurs of the Year, Great Companies
- 2025 — Pioneer in Education Award, Hayat Arts Mirage Awards; Top 50 Global Inspirational Entrepreneurs
- 2024 — Global 200 Women Power Leaders; PAWES Award for Outstanding Collaborative Partnership Africa; Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2023 — Asia’s Top 100 Women Power Leaders; Educator of the Year, ME EMMI Empire USA
- 2022 — Entrepreneur Award, Emirates Women Award, presented by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Her story has graced the covers of Forbes England, Womenpreneur Middle East and CIO Times. She is also a co-author of Dubai Business Leaders Volume One, an Amazon number-one best-seller.
Yet for all the accolades, Dr. Mariam’s truest legacy walks the corridors of campuses around the world: the thousands of students who found their way because she built the bridge. Four decades after that first preschool opened its doors, she is still opening doors — and showing no sign of slowing down.
Dr. Mariam Shaikh can be reached at mshaikh@mseduconsultants.com or via www.mseduconsultants.com.
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