Education
From The Report: Dubai 2018
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With a vibrant and growing private school system generating annual revenues of Dh6.8bn ($1.9bn) and a cosmopolitan collection of international universities, Dubai’s education sector continues to flourish and to attract investment. Its schools and universities are striving to provide their students with the skills they will need to thrive and contribute in a rapidly evolving workplace. In recent years Dubai’s students have made great strides in international indices; now, while it continues to focus on academic achievement, the sector is putting a new emphasis on extra-curricular activities and career support.

This chapter contains an interview with Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman and Director-General, Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Holistic learning: Amid an improving international reputation, the sector turns its focus to student livelihoods
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With a vibrant and growing private school system generating annual revenues of Dh6.8bn ($1.9bn) and a cosmopolitan collection of international universities, Dubai’s education sector continues to flourish and to attract investment. Its schools and universities are striving to provide their students with the skills they will need to thrive and contribute in a rapidly evolving workplace. In recent years Dubai’s students have made great strides in international indices; now, while it continues…

Interview

Novel approach: Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman and Director-General, Knowledge and Human Development Authority, on the innovative direction of education
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Interview:Abdulla Al Karam To what extent is demand keeping up with the growing supply of private schools? ABDULLA AL KARAM: Demand is a function of two factors in Dubai: natural population increase and immigration. The former grows at 3-5% per annum, whereas the latter increases at approximately 5%, fuelling a relatively steady need for new facilities. In fact, in the 2006/07 academic year there was a shortage of schools and many parents were faced with long waiting lists. Since then, there…

Analysis

Commercial knowledge: Profitable opportunities for private schools offering international curricula
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When the new school year began in September 2017, 10 new private facilities opened their doors to pupils in Dubai, with investors and educators keen to make their mark in a competitive and potentially lucrative market. The new crop of schools offered a range of curricula, with four British, two Indian, one Canadian, one French, one US and one providing an international baccalaureate (IB). Fees also varied widely, from Dh15,000 ($4080) a year for the youngest pupils taking the Indian curriculum…

Analysis

Need for innovation: In a competitive ecosystem, international universities reinvent themselves to attract students
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In September 2017 two new universities opened their doors in Dubai. The UK’s University of Birmingham and Curtin University, from Perth in Western Australia, are the latest international academic institutions to operate local branches in Dubai’s International Academic City free zone. There are now more than 30 of these in Dubai’s free zones, complementing the UAE’s public universities. In all, there were 62 higher education institutions in Dubai in 2017, with more than 60,000 students.…