Tag: Higher education

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UAE Commitment to Education

Education is the hot topic in the UAE. I’ve noticed a visible increase of cabinet officials visiting schools throughout the country and speaking of their strategic importance.  The Arabic and English media are writing featured stories on education at all levels. In addition government studies on education with a focus on the status of K-12 has been produced by ADEC and KHDA. As I reported in earlier blogs there is massive increase of new private schools and students.  

Facts from KHDA

  • Dubai has 153 private schools
  • 6 private schools charge little or no tuition
  • The most expensive school charges 96,140AED
  • The average fee paid for a pupil to attend a Dubai school has risen to 17,172AED a year. Tuition fees are similar in Abu Dhabi
  • About 15% of parents now pay more than 35,000AED in tuition a year per child
  • Tuition fees in Dubai private schools increased 4.5% in 2012
  • Pupil numbers at private schools rose by 7.1% in 2012
  • Enrollment in Dubai private schools have doubled in 10 years, exceeding 225,000 pupils
  • 30,044 of these students are Emirati, which has doubled in10 years

Curriculum in schools vary; the UK education system is used in 35% of the schools followed by US at 22.9%, Indian at 15.7%, and UAE Ministry of Education at 8.5%.  However do not assume that a person’s nationality means they participate in their country’s curriculum. Indians consist of 35.2% of the student population, followed by UAE Nationals at 13.4%, Pakistan at 9.6%, UK at 4.9%, Americans at 2.4%, and the remaining 34.5% are from various parts of the world.  

As I written in the past, parents will spend money for their children’s education be it expat or Emirati. If their employer doesn’t assist they will find additional funds to get their children the best possible education.

ADEC recently conducted a survey of parents in Abu Dhabi of which 40,000 responded. One surprising fact came out; just over 47% stated their child takes private lessons in subjects such as Math, Science, English and Arabic. It is also reported that the cost of private tutoring ranges from 100-175AED per hour. It would seem to mean that children are not getting sufficient support in the classroom.  Also teachers are making extra income being tutors though their employer can reprimand or fire them, though it’s unlikely to occur.

 The last item is who teaches in private schools. There are 14,333 teachers of which 80% are female and 20% male. The percentage is less disproportionate in middle and secondary schools where 66% are female and 34% are males. The one figure that continues to be a major concern is the number of Emirati teachers. In Dubai private schools, 24 of the 14,333 teachers are UAE Nationals. Of the twenty-four, one is a male teacher.

Conclusions

  1. Parents will spend a significant portion of their income to get their child the best possible education.
  2. Parents are not convinced that public schools have the quality of education they desire. This is particular apparent in Dubai.
  3. Private schools will continue to increase as will the average tuition and fees though salaries are not keeping up with inflation.
  4. UAE higher education institutions can’t provide enough teachers to meet demand for years to come. Expat teachers will continue to be recruited and the turnover rate will remain high.
  5. UAE leadership is committed to education and working on ways to improve public K-12 but have seen more positive results in higher education.  The focus to improve student K-12 learning is implementation of new technology for “Smart Classrooms”. 
  6. Emiratization as a goal makes sense but difficult to attract Emirati’s to the education sector.

 UAE Nationals need to be more directly involved in K-12 and higher education as teachers and administrators. It is critical that students see fellow Emirati’s teaching and leading federal and public schools. What the government has yet to address is how to change the mindset of parents and extended families. They have yet made a convincing case their sons or daughters should go into the education profession instead of engineering, business, and finance. It will take a change in salary structure and a change in cultural thinking that shows the education field has prestige. 

Technology can’t solve this issue.   

PS: To all my friends and colleagues in the field of education have a good summer vacation.

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Is the UAE the New Higher Education Destination Hotspot?

It has been quite some time since I posted a blog entry on Hoke’s Notes, in fact since 2011, so why am I writing now?  What seems to have motivated me is an increasing interest to comment on the evolution of education partiularily higher education, throughout the Middle East and what is happening in the UAE . In addition I now have additional outlets to post the blog through my social media sites including www.deanhoke.com.

My wife and I have lived in Abu Dhabi since February 2009 and are working in the higher education sector. I have been fortunate enough to get to know many of the UAE institutions faculty and staff over these years and the education and research community in the GCC and Middle East. Where I am going to take this blog in the upcoming months is to report and comment on education in the Middle East.

Is the UAE the New Higher Education Destination Hotspot?

In a recently published study by Deloitte commissioned by the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority, the UAE was named by 7% the 2,500 students surveyed as their preferred education destination. The students who responded were from 17 Middle East and Asian countries. Ranking ahead of the UAE were the US at 27%, the United Kingdom at 20% and Canada at 14%.

Deloitte, which conducted the study in conjunction with TECOM Investments’ Education Cluster stated, “Significantly, the UAE scored higher than other emerging education hubs in students’ estimation of their preferred destination for higher education and is perceived to be the most attractive destination for higher education in the region.”

The United Arab Emirates has about 100 post secondary institutions spread throughout the Emirates but with the largest concentrations in Dubai followed by Abu Dhabi. In terms of population, an estimated 8 million people live in the UAE of which 1 million are UAE Nationals.  Almost all higher education institutions teach in English.  Throughout the UAE, an estimated 125,000 students are enrolled in these 102 schools, which means the remaining emirates have 49 institutions with 77,000 enrollments and Dubai has 53 schools with 48,000 enrolled. Dubai has captured 52% of the total number of institutions and approximately 38% of the overall students. In the Dubai area, Emirati students make up the largest group 20,640 (43%), followed by Asian students (21%). Compared to 2011, there have been substantial increases in the numbers of African and Arab students according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority. According to the UAE National Bureau of Statistics, 27,909 Emirati students graduated in the 2010-2011 UAE academic year, leaving the opportunity for international universities and vocational training institutes with solid English language preparatory programs and targeted programs to gain in enrollment.

When I arrived in the UAE in 2009 it appeared that the expansion of schools would slow down due to the failures of George Mason University in Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) which was taken over by American University in RAK and Michigan State University which has 30 students left. However the Dubai region has seen significant growth and Abu Dhabi is growing at a slower pace due to its more conservative policy in permitting new sites.

Why do Middle East/Asian students rank the UAE as the 4th most desirable region to go to school and #1 outside of the UK and North America? First the TECOM, which runs Dubai Academic Village and Dubai Knowledge Village, has been aggressively marketing to potential international university suitors who want to expand its schools in the region. TECOM has a solid infrastructure in place and a clear vision of who they are and what they can provide. A second reason may well be that a rival such as Qatar is not the market for branch campuses but rather universities with strong brand names who will set-up focused programs such as diplomacy, journalism, engineering, etc.  That explains why universities will establish branch campuses in the UAE but the question remain why will students come to the UAE. You could take the view “if you build it, they will come” but it doesn’t always work as in the cases of George Mason or Michigan State.

I believe the primarily reason why students and parents with financial means would turn to the UAE over other parts in the non English speaking world is they will be safe. War is neither breaking out, nor Arab Spring and revolts as we seen in Egypt, Libya, Morocco Bahrain and countless other nations. It’s a vibrant area where you can enjoy the student experience. Students want to go to places where its exciting, meet new people, develop contacts and learn.

Its reasonable to assume the area while not prefect, is stable and tolerant. It has a diverse population, with many countries represented and a wide choice of schools to attend. I am not necessarily saying they are all “world class schools” that I will write about in a future blog. They have a well-established UAE accreditation body under the Higher Education Ministry of which 78 schools are approved, as well as the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority, which does its own evaluation.

The UAE and in particular Dubai has positioned itself as a destination market similar to what India has done in the field of medical tourism. It’s an exciting marketplace where you can recruit UAE Nationals, the children of expats and attract high school graduates in other Middle Eastern nations, as well as Asia and Africa. The parents and the child can keep close to home, gain a decent education and most importantly, keep safe.

 I invite your comments and opinions. Let me know what your thinking.

 PS: To all horse racing fans, Happy Derby Day!