Virtual funeral, memorial services for Mariamma Varkey of GEMS Education in Dubai

Dubai: GEMS Education has shared a public invitation to join the virtual funeral and memorial services for the group’s matriarch and pioneering educator Mariamma Varkey who died in Dubai last week.

The invitation from the family of the group’s chairman and founder and Mariamma’s son Sunny Varkey was shared on the Twitter handle of GEMS Education Middle East on Sunday.

“The Varkey family invites you to watch the live stream of the funeral service of Madam Mariamma Varkey on Monday, 5 April 2021 at 2pm (GST), and the Virtual Memorial on Tuesday, 6 April 2021 at 6pm (GST),” the tweet stated.

Links to join the services were added to the Twitter bio of the group.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had earlier lauded the contribution and legacy of Mariamma after her death aged 89 on Wednesday.

Quote tweeting Sheikh Mohammed’s tweet about her, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi had stated: “The fact that Indian community in the UAE are the real Ambassadors generating the goodwill for the country can’t be stressed enough. Late Ms Mariamma Varkey was one of them who shall be remembered for her passionate contributions.”

Various Indian community members, GEMS employees and alumni members had also paid rich tributes to the “iron lady” who inspired generations.

Mariamma was a former teacher from Kerala in India who moved to Dubai with her husband K.S. Varkey in 1959. They founded Our Own English High School in 1968, the first school under the global education group which was later established by the couple’s son Sunny Varkey in 2000.