Business | Features
Education is a priority
Education is more than a catalyst to development, it is a pillar that determines countries' capability to build their own future.
- By Dr Rod Monger, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 April 11, 2007
Education is more than a catalyst to development, it is a pillar that determines countries' capability to build their own future.
Therefore, providing quality education in the UAE has topped the priorities of the federal government and attracted contribution of the private sector.
For that purpose, the National Bonds Corporation launched a private joint stock company, Madaares, with a start-up capital of Dh500 million to build private schools in the UAE.
Madaares's roots go back to 2001 when Nasser Bin Hassan Al Shaikh, vice-chairman and chief executive, served in the Executive Offices, Government of Dubai, where attention was then focused on Dubai's educational needs.
One much-discussed topic, says Al Shaikh, was how to attract knowledge workers to Dubai. For example, a top investment banker might be lured to the region by opportunity and tax-free income, but not without basic amenities for his family like healthcare and education that meet "international standards."
Another concern was moving nationals along the path in education. The very newness of the country puts education in catch-up mode and that shows in the literacy rate which is one of the lowest in the Middle East, says a United Nations report.
Other data comes from the Knowledge for Development programme at the World Bank which rates countries for "knowledge economy readiness" along four dimensions - economic incentive, innovation, high-technology infrastructure and education. The UAE holds its own on the first three, but education fares poorly against all countries including others in the Middle East. When compared to 'high human development' countries, the UAE is a work-in-progress.
Solution
None of this is news to Al Shaikh, since Madaares was designed as part of the solution. Madaares has already acquired a private British education provider, and other acquisitions are in the works though details are not yet publicly available.
Madaares also took two years to get from concept to execution, and Al Shaikh, in his characteristically quiet but firm voice, leaves no doubt about why. "In education, you cannot go wrong. You have to make sure it's done well. You cannot tolerate mistakes."
A great deal of time and research was invested into finding the appropriate educational benchmarks which came from sources like the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), says Al Shaikh. This also meant identifying foreign providers that Madaares could partner with and then customise their programmes to fit area needs.
The overall strategy was to identify best practices around the world and adapt them. "We don't have to reinvent the wheel," he observes.
Madaares's short-term focus is on building 14 primary and secondary schools over the next five years, with plans for 20 more by 2014. "We cannot run before we walk," says Al Shaikh. He also notes that producing the first crop of young people - Emiratis and expats - who make it through the Madaares's K through 12 is a 13-year relationship.
But Al Shaikh also says that Madaares will expand beyond the UAE - first to other GCC nations and then to MENA countries. "We want to perfect the system and then export it."
And would Madaares venture beyond that? Al Shaikh agrees that down the road, Madaares wants to be a player. "A key player," he says. "We want to be key providers of international education."
Would Madaares ever tackle higher education? The answer is not "no." But for now, primary and secondary schools are the priority. Meantime, university students can study overseas in Great Britain and the US, says Al Shaikh.
Intellectual property
The notion of competing in education is consistent with the region's larger goal of being a net exporter of intellectual property.
Dubai has already had some successes in this arena, said Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, in a speech to the American Business Council earlier this year.
As an example, he noted that cluster building techniques, perfected in Dubai, are now being exported to other countries.
He also observed that the goal of building a strong knowledge economy is not just for Dubai or Abu Dhabi but the region as a whole. All this is being done in a culture characterised by aggressive and innovative accomplishment. "If you want to relax," he told the audience, "move to New York."
Madaares has arrived at a time when the world's educational community is embroiled in a mushrooming debate. Many thought leaders believe that traditional education delivery is breaking down under the onslaught of technology and the inability to keep up with growing demand.
This growth comes not only from increasing hordes of students, but the quantity of knowledge that a human being must now absorb to become "educated." Plus the half-life of knowledge continues decreasing with the accelerated pace of innovation.
Therefore when Dubai envisions its educational future it has to take into consideration the latest innovations and trends which shape up competition worldwide.
For example, online education has already made substantial inroads. Courses are taught online as opposed to the traditional classroom where a student and teacher are physically present. Revenue is currently estimated at more than $10.5 billion in the US market with three million students. Even traditional universities have launched online degree programmes, partly because it opens educational opportunities for people who cannot get to physical classes - home-bound mothers, those isolated in rural areas, and people in areas with no local educational institution.
Some conservatively estimate that the worldwide market for online education will be 45 million users by 2025. The question isn't only who will be the providers, but it is also who are the potential recipients. Given the region's social framework, it sounds an appealing feature to lure more students into continuing education.
For-profit learning
There are other development in the education business which have provoked controversy as to the quality of education delivered through foreign institutions.
For example, there has been the proliferation of for-profit schools. US-based Apollo Group owns several for-profit educational institutions with over 323,000 students combined.
The largest is the University of Phoenix with about 170,000 students, some in traditional classrooms but most obtaining their degrees online.
It uses what most traditionalists regard, some disapprovingly, as innovative techniques. Classes are only five to six weeks and students take only one class per session in lock-step sequence.
Recently, the University of Phoenix has been the subject of US federal investigations for various reasons. Its critics claim that it is little more than a 'diploma mill.'
However, whatever its shortcomings, its clear that its 170,000 students find some value since they pay tuition rates that are similar to those in many traditional universities. In 2005, the Apollo Group had revenue of $2.2 billion, of which 20 per cent was after-tax profit.
The University of Phoenix has announced its intention to enter the Middle East market. If Dubai is on its map, the emirate may need to take stock of its stand on the university's innovative teaching methods.
Even more controversial is the role of automation in education. ALEKS is a company that offers simulation software in mathematics, behavioural sciences and business. The latter includes business math, economics, statistics and accounting modules, some used by the University of Phoenix. Top business schools use virtual company simulations to give students - sometimes practitioners returning for executive education - a feel for managing a company in total.
One fact that Dubai needs to understand is that capitalising on the opportunity to restructure education looking forward to the next two centuries is unlikely to come from tradition-encrusted educational institutions in developed countries.
That prize, and the attendant economic rewards, will most likely accrue to a more aggressive culture of innovative accomplishment, were it to accept such a challenge. What would the rewards be? If education can be automated, at least to some degree, the marginal cost of delivery would be far lower. Each additional student could be educated at a very low cost compared to traditional delivery.
This raises an intriguing question: Could a quality university degree taught largely by an automated system be delivered to a young adult in India, Pakistan or China at a marginal cost of Dh10,000? Dh5,000?
If the answer is anywhere near "yes," the result would be, quite literally, a detonation of human productivity and economic growth. Then Dubai can take its place as an exporter of education and knowledge.
Developed countries spend generously on education.
Of the $2.3 trillion in global spending on education, $732 billion are spent in the US - $250 billion on higher education.
The US spends 9.5 per cent of its GDP on education, more than spending on social security and defence combined though less than healthcare.
What do numbers tell us about the UAE?
According to the federal budget of 2007, education will receive the largest provision of the budget with a commitment of Dh7.11 billion ($1.94 billion) or 25 per cent of overall expenditure.
Separately, the UAE Ministry of Higher Education has acted on the federal government's concern for education by introducing forward-thinking initiatives such as the 'Education Vision 2020'.
The 20-year programme was launched in 2000 which has set the country's strategies for educational development over four five-year plans ending in 2020.
The programme aims to introduce the latest information technology at all levels of education.
The writer is a business professor at the American University in Dubai.
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