Arthur D. Little analysis identifies early childhood education as a major human-capital investment opportunity for the GCC, with 94% of the kindergarten expansion required under its near-universal enrollment scenario driven by existing needs
- ADL estimates that reaching its near-universal 95% kindergarten enrollment benchmark across the GCC by 2035 would require around 11,600 new kindergartens and 116,000 additional educators
- UAE leads the GCC in preprimary participation at approximately 82%, positioning it closest in the region to near-universal enrollment
- Around 94% of the kindergarten build required under ADL’s scenario reflects existing access and capacity needs rather than future population growth
- Extending meaningful formal provision into the nursery segment could increase regional requirements to approximately 40,000 early childhood institutions and 224,000 educators
Dubai, UAE – 13 September 2026: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is entering a significant period of expansion in early childhood education (ECE), with new Arthur D. Little (ADL) analysis estimating that reaching near-universal kindergarten enrollment across the region by 2035 would require approximately 11,600 new kindergartens and 116,000 additional kindergarten educators.
The findings are published in ADL’s new Viewpoint, From Cradle to Classroom: Why early childhood education is a high-return opportunity & how GCC countries can seize it, which argues that early childhood should increasingly be treated as economic infrastructure rather than primarily as a social expenditure.
ADL’s analysis points to significant potential to expand early childhood participation across the GCC, with countries starting from different levels of enrollment, capacity and educator provision. The UAE currently leads the region with approximately 82% preprimary participation, placing it closest among GCC countries to near-universal enrollment.
Amr Kazimi, Principal at Arthur D. Little, said: “Early childhood education (ECE) delivers huge ROI in human capital terms, yet it is underfunded and inadequately regulated. The scale of the opportunity is significant, and much more immediate than is commonly recognized. Our analysis shows that reaching near-universal kindergarten enrollment across the GCC by 2035 would require around 11,600 additional kindergartens and 116,000 educators. Crucially, around 94% of that requirement comes from needs that exist today, rather than future demographic growth. Early childhood education should therefore be considered an infrastructure investment that can deliver value for the region now and for decades to come.”
The requirements vary significantly across individual GCC markets, reflecting different starting points and priorities. In some markets, the emphasis is on accelerating capacity creation and workforce development; in others, it is on extending access or expanding provision further upstream into the nursery years.
The UAE, which leads the region at approximately 82% preprimary enrollment, faces much of its remaining expansion opportunity in the nursery years. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is set to account for around three-quarters of the kindergarten expansion required under ADL’s near-universal enrollment scenario, creating a major opportunity for capacity and workforce development. Qatar and Kuwait have comparatively favorable educator ratios but further scope to broaden access.
ADL’s analysis finds that broadening the ambition beyond kindergarten could increase the scale of the opportunity substantially. Extending meaningful formal provision to the currently underserved nursery segment, based on a 40% enrollment scenario, would bring the requirement to approximately 40,000 early childhood institutions — kindergartens and nurseries — and 224,000 educators across the GCC.
The economic case for doing so extends beyond education outcomes. High-quality early childhood programs can generate what ADL describes as a “double return”: strengthening the human capital of tomorrow while enabling more parents, particularly women, to participate in the workforce today.
That relationship is especially relevant to the GCC’s economic diversification and nationalization agendas. In Saudi Arabia, for example, female labor-force participation increased from 17% in 2016 to 36% in 2025, exceeding the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 target of 30%.
Yigit Saf, Partner at Arthur D. Little, said: “Early childhood education should no longer be viewed simply as a social cost. For GCC economies, it has the characteristics of economic infrastructure and offers a rare double return. Investment today strengthens the capabilities of the generation that will drive the region’s future diversification, while accessible, high-quality childcare can enable more parents to enter and remain in the workforce. That makes ECE directly relevant to the region’s human-capital, nationalization and female-participation ambitions.”
The long-term economics reinforce the case for investment. Research cited in the Viewpoint finds that high-quality, comprehensive programs from birth to age five can generate returns of approximately 13% per child per year, equivalent to around US$6 in benefits for every US$1 invested. This compares with estimated returns of 7%-10% for preschool alone.
Yet early childhood remains structurally underfunded globally. Around 175 million children are not enrolled in preprimary education, while only 6.6% of education budgets are directed to the subsector on average. UNICEF recommends allocating at least 10% of education spending to preprimary education.
ADL argues that GCC policymakers should therefore look beyond simply adding places. Quality will determine whether expansion generates its intended economic and developmental returns. The Viewpoint identifies three constraints that need to be addressed alongside capacity: workforce shortages, quality and regulation, and parental engagement.
The firm also calls for a more integrated approach spanning the full early childhood value chain — from the first 1,000 days, through preprimary education at ages three to five, to the transition into primary school. This includes stronger coordination across education, healthcare and labor policy; investment in educator quality; appropriate child-to-staff ratios; greater parental involvement; and carefully governed use of AI-enabled learning and educator-support tools.
Kazimi concluded: “The question for the GCC is increasingly not whether early childhood delivers sufficient returns to justify investment, but how quickly systems can expand while protecting quality. Done well, the build-out can address today’s access needs, create a significant professional workforce, support parents’ participation in the economy and strengthen the human-capital foundations of the region for decades to come.”
