Dubai: "The level of variety in the higher education system is unique in the Gulf and people should be grateful," says Dr Peter Heath, American University of Sharjah chancellor.

Dr Sulaiman Al Jasem, vice-president of Zayed University, said the discovery of oil provided the necessary finances to improve the education system, which was a high priority for the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

"It's phenomenal that over 40 years, we started with zero universities in the 1970s to one university in 1976 and then the expansion in federal education … the most significant was in the private sector," said Dr Abdullah Al Shamsi, Vice Chancellor of the British University in Dubai.

Comprehensive

Al Jasem said, "Educational opportunities have blossomed, offering a comprehensive education to students from both genders, with education for the country's citizens being provided free at public schools, in conjunction with an extensive integrated private education sector constantly being improved and catering for nearly 40 per cent of the student population."

Al Jasem said development opportunities and education for adults is also a priority and the government has launched an adult literacy programme. "We note that the rate of adult literacy was 54.2 per cent among men, and 30.9 per cent among women. In 1998, it was 73.4 per cent among men and 77.1 per cent among women."

UAE University (UAEU) provost Prof Rory Wyatt Hume said: "As the nation's first university, we are very proud of our 60,000 alumni and it's a great feeling for us to have. We have special pride in the 200 alumni who have become our faculty members."

Hume said UAEU was doing well in contributing to the research done in the country in a range of areas from environment, petrochemicals, new technologies, health and social welfare.

Success story

UAEU is also ranked well among world universities and this is an indication that certain universities in the country are ready to recognised in the global sphere. "This is our goal and we hope other universities will be ranked."

The Dubai education free zones are a success story for the UAE and it has grown exponentially in the number of institutions and students.

"Dubai is perfectly placed to be the destination for young people from all over the region to come to study. The number of students here has grown four-fold in 10 years, and we have the highest number of international branch campuses in the world," said Dr Warren Fox, executive director of Higher Education at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

Clear guidelines needed

To fully develop a knowledge economy, Dr Peter Heath said the next step is to provide clear and well-funded guidelines for competitive research in the UAE.

Dr Omar Hefni, president of the University of Dubai, also stressed the need for applied research that would help the economy of the UAE. "If we spend on research and development, the results show up later, not overnight. We want to be sure that some money is allocated to R&D, so faculty members can draw funds and it will have an impact on economic growth."

Hume raised the issue of research funding as well. "In order to continue to flourish, we need stable and secure funding for competitive research. This is genuinely the biggest challenge that we face: to excel on an international stage with international standards of excellence."

"The next challenge of is to have a cohesive vision of how universities can contribute to national identity," said Heath. "This is partly to do with language — national identity is not quite realised yet because Emiratis need to feel comfortable with their heritage and background and as citizens of the globe." Hefni questioned whether there were too many institutions in the UAE. "In economics we talk about ‘saturation point' — the UAE should decide if the local market has reached it. It's a matter of supply and demand, and we don't want an oversupply."

Al Shamsi said the UAE's opening of its doors to international universities is both an achievement and a challenge. "We have more universities here than the country can sustain - the next challenge will be to look at the past 40 years, especially the private sector." He said the licensing process, standards of education, satisfying the employer, contribution to research and community engagement of private universities need to be assessed in the future.