Al Shindagah

HIGHER EDUCATION
IN THE UAE

Educational institutions must recognize that academic knowledge and technical skills need to be imbued with social, emotional and moral ethics to reinforce the spiritual and cultural value of the individual.

During the early 50’s education in the UAE was limited to Koranic teachings, reading and writing. With the help of Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt, proper formal education started to take place on the late 50’s and early 60’s of the last century in the UAE. Independence & the formation of the UAE in the 70’s brought about a big leap in the general education sector, at both Primary & Secondary levels. Schools sprung up like mushrooms in order to provide quality education and eradicate illiteracy among Nationals.

The fast growing economic development during the 70’s and 80’s brought a huge influx of expatriates into the UAE but since the education process was designed and delivered in solely Arabic, there was only very limited local, private, primary & secondary education to accommodate the expatriates’ needs for a quality education to international standards.

In 1991, recognizing some of the limitations of both state and private education in Dubai and fully committed to the quality development of the local and international youth in the country, Khalaf al Habtoor, Chairman of Al Habtoor Group LLC, founded the first Emirates International School. This school delivers an international curriculum and offers fully accredited British International GCSE & Swiss International Baccalaureate programmes to both Nationals and expatriate students. In 2005 he inaugurated a second school with the same offering to serve the ever growing population of Dubai and these schools now educate some 3000 students in all.

Over the last three decades, the UAE has made great progress not only economically and socially but also educationally. Emphasis in the education sector is on developing our human capital through fostering high character in our citizens in order to function in this multi-cultural environment. Good education should impart national pride in our citizens along side the highest standards of knowledge and know-how.

The UAE must undertake long term reforms starting with a comprehensive audit of the present educational system in order to disclose gaps and misalignments between education and training outcomes and the work environment. These reforms will enhance the UAE’s human capital to parallel that of the emerging global economy. Our higher education institutions, particularly those in the public sector, should equip our youth with knowledge, attitudes and technical skills that will enable them to flourish and to be on a par with twenty-first century globalisation.

The overriding challenge in the coming century will be adapting to continuous rapid social, economic, political and technological change. The pace of change we have seen so far in this century is not likely to slow and will continue to put increasing stress on individuals and institutions. The skills and knowledge needed to cope with rapid change are necessary not only for the elite leadership of society but also for the public at large. The need for education beyond the academic and intellectual is also salient to this challenge.

THE INCEPTION OF TERTIARY EDUCATION IN THE UAE
The vision of the late president, HH Sheikh Zayed Sultan Al Nahyan, to provide excellent tertiary education for Emiratis, was realized at the early 70’s by the establishment of the UAE University, the first tertiary institution in the UAE. His Highness envisioned the University’s becoming a federal institution with an Arab-Islamic identity and a focus on intellect, culture, and science.

It contributed significantly to the development of the UAE as a modern country and the utilization of its potential resources; its people, heritage, values, economic resources and system. Over the last thirty years, the University has become a leading and pioneering regional institution in education, research, and community service.

The need for the development and enhancement of technical skills & knowledge to meet the ever increasing demand for tertiary education again prompted the late president, Sheikh Zayed to establish, in 1988, the Higher Colleges of Technology.

Over the last 18 years, the colleges have spread geographically all over the UAE, from the Eastern region all the way to the Western region with a total of 14 colleges for both male & female Emiratis. The Colleges offer a variety of qualifications in order to meet the country’s demand for human capital namely:

1. Certificate Diploma after completion of secondary education

2. Diploma, three years after secondary education or one year after the Certificate Programme.
Those two qualifications were built into the system for secondary school leavers with a 60% overall pass rate as well as if their English language is not up to the average level.

3. Higher National Diploma which is a mix between academic and practical for students who completed secondary education with average above 60% and with good command of the English language. These graduates are categorized as ‘technologists’ which is above technician level and below the level of engineers.

These graduates form the backbone of ‘skilled’ personnel in industry. Recently, the Certificate Diploma has been withdrawn and only the Diploma and Higher Diploma programmes were retained. They are now offering an Applied Bachelor’s Degree in various educational disciplines.

Again, the vision and sensitivity of the late president, Sheikh Zayed to the ever increasing need of secondary school graduates, and particularly women, made the establishment of a third tertiary institution a reality. Zayed University was established in 1998 in Abu Dhabi & Dubai. Future expansion includes providing campuses for men.

All three institutions are Federal Government funded and provide free education to all UAE Nationals. All of them are in the process of developing further education for post graduates in order to meet the demand for higher qualifications.

PRIVATE TERTIARY EDUCATION IN THE UAE
Over the last few years we have seen that the demand for tertiary education increased significantly. Since the three state institutions only provide tertiary education for UAE Nationals, we have witnessed the birth of many private institutions such as the Sharjah University City, Dubai University City and Abu Dhabi University City in order to keep pace with the fast growing economy and expatriate population in the UAE. The other Emirates followed suit in developing their tertiary private education in order to capitalize on the big economic boom. Private education became itself a major contributor to this boom.

Many of these organizations are affiliated with good educational institutions around the world though the majority of them are only offering courses related to humanities, business and information technology. This is mainly due to lack of purpose built campuses and facilities for technical skills education. Most of these institutions are in the free-zone areas which are not under the control and supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education. A large portion of the student population is from private institutions outside the UAE although some of this population is still made up of UAE Nationals. The tuition fees in private institutions are quite high considering the facility provided and the quality of education, particularly if their programmes are not recognized by the Higher Education Authority in the UAE. In the long run this could harm UAE students in searching for employment where their qualifications are not recognized by the Higher Education Authority.

The second major problem with this is the labour market related to tertiary education. One major attraction in order to persuade students from the sub continent and other Arab, Eastern European countries and Iran to enroll in these institutions is the training and job placement in the UAE. The majority of the UAE’s private sector will tap on graduates from these institutions due to the demand of the labour market in terms of paying low salaries. This will increase the expatriate workforce while decreasing opportunities for UAE Nationals.

In conclusion, private tertiary education must come under the control of the Higher Education Authority in order to vet the programmes quality, teaching staff’s qualifications and the affiliated institutions international credibility.