Dubai: More than 20,000 students attend education institutes located in the University City, Sharjah.
Established in 1997 by His Highness Shaikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah, the University City is home to over 15 educational institutions.
“Shaikh Dr Sultan established University City because of his desire to create an Arab academic movement in an educational environment that provides all the necessary facilities for the exchange of experiences and studies, bringing back the Arab world to its glory days in the scientific field,” said Salem Al Qaseer, Chairman of the Academic Office of Sharjah.
Al Qaseer said the University City witnesses’ continuous development and expansions.
“Latest additions are Al Qasimia University, the Sharjah Centre for Space and Astronomy and the Sharjah Research Academy, which was inaugurated by His Highness recently.”
The management of the University City offers many services, such as free transport for all students. It also has more than 30 assembly points in Sharjah to move students to and from the University City in the morning and evening.
Located next to Sharjah International Airport, the educational institutes’ architecture in the University City are based on beautiful Islamic architecture and surrounded by green landscapes spread across 15,000 square kilometer.
Gulf News highlights some of the educational institutes located in the Sharjah University city, to help future students and parents learn more about these institutes and the programmes they offer.
American University of Sharjah
Established: In 1997 by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, as an independent non-profitable foundation.
Courses: 26 majors, 53 minors at the undergraduate level, and 14 masters degree programmes.
AUS has four colleges:
• College of College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD): CAAD offers five undergraduate programmes: architecture, interior design, visual communication, multimedia design and design management — and a graduate programme in urban planning. The architecture degree programme offered by CAAD is the first programme outside North America to be given accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) of the United States
• The College of Arts and Sciences: Offers a wide range of programmes such as English language and literature, international studies, mass communication, biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, mathematics, English/Arabic/English translation and interpreting, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
• College of Administration & Business: The programme has been recognised internationally with accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
• College of Engineering (CEN): CEN holds the largest number of enrolled students. CEN offers bachelors degree in computer science, civil, chemical, electrical, mechanical, industrial and computer engineering
Top 10 countries’ nationals on campus: UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Lebanon and US.
The College of Engineering has the highest number of students enrolled, 2,450, followed by The School of Business Engineering 1,379, College of Arts and Science 813, and the Collece of Architecture, Arts and Design with 628.
Total number of students in Spring of 2015: 5,872.
AUS has 22 sport teams.
81.3 per cent of AUS alumni live in the UAE with the majority, 32.5 per cent, residing in the Dubai, 26.9 per cent in Sharjah and 19.8 per cent in Abu Dhabi.
University of Sharjah
Established: In 1997 under the patronage of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, as a non-profitable, legal, financially and administratively independent entity owned by the Sharjah Government.
Courses: A total of 86 academic degree programmes including 50 bachelor’s degrees, 17 masters degrees, seven PhD degrees, one graduate and 11 associate diploma degrees.
In total the university has 12 colleges — The College of Pharmacy, The College of Dentistry, The College of Medicine, The College of Communication, The College of Law, The College of Health Sciences, The College of Engineering, The College of Business Administration, The college of Fine Arts and Design, College of Science, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science and the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies.
Dr Sultan Al Qasimi Centre of Gulf Studies
The centre contains collectibles, which His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, gathered himself over 25 years. They include several sections: History of the Gulf through Maps, Life in the Gulf, Library Archive, rare coins with special relevance for the Gulf area, and the Personal Collection of Dr Shaikh Sultan. Situated around the library area are fine models of local dhows and the ships that played a major role in the history of European trading and political interventions in the Gulf.
The History of the Gulf through maps section contains 170 articles divided into scientific maps, including the oldest world map of Ptolemy first printed in 1493. The library contains collections of historical works which relate in great detail to the Arab Gulf, in both Arabic and European languages. The collection of Portuguese books, in particular, is a vital tool for any research worker wishing to understand the history of the Gulf from the beginning of the 16th century.
Higher College of Technology – Sharjah
The Higher College of Technology - Sharjah Colleges (HCT - SC) are two of 17 colleges that comprise the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates.
The university offers a variety of programmes in the field of applied communication, business, computer and information science, engineering technology and health science and community studies (community studies is offered only in the women’s college).
Sharjah Women’s College was established in 1997 while the Sharjah Men’s College was established in 1998.
The HCT is a federally funded system that operates under the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Located in University City, Sharjah, the HCT - SC serves the post-secondary educational needs of the emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, and Umm Al Quwain. Enrolment at HCT - SC, for the academic year 2013-2014, was 3,395 (2,435 at the women’s college and 960 at the men’s college).
Skyline University College
Established: 1990
Courses: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BBA), majors in Travel & Tourism Management, Information Systems, International Business, Marketing and Finance. It also offers a Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, with emphasis on Marketing, Finance, Human Resource Management and Strategic Management and Leadership.
Nitin Anand, COEC, Skyline University College Sharjah, said Skyline University is one of the first private universities to start in UAE.
“We have focused on business education and have graduated students with a very careful focus on imparting knowledge with creativity, developing skills to make our students more employable and, finally, developing values in our students to pay back to society for a better future. We believe is graduating entrepreneurs who not only work for profits but are also focused towards betterment of the society.”
The university currently has around 1,200 students enrolled, round 900 at BBA and 300 at the MBA level.
A total of 6,000 students have graduated from Skyline University College in the last 25 years.
Regional Centre for Educational Planning and Training
The centre has been established as per the agreement signed between the UAE Government and Unesco, which supervises it.
The centre aims to enhance and support the endeavours of educational systems in the region through training, consultancy, and dissemination of knowledge in the realm of educational planning, management and leadership, building human resource capacities and preparing them to execute the best international practices in the area of education.
The centre provides the following educational services:
• Building national and regional capacity for modern educational planning by targeting senior officials and technical staff of ministries of education
• Training in all aspects of education planning, management and leadership
• Training in applied education research by undertaking fact-finding and analysis work focused on specific needs of Gulf states, Arab states and others
• Awareness-raising with regard to specific sector development issues which are of priority for the countries in the region
• To facilitate access to information on educational planning and management of other countries and relevant information published by international organisations and institutions, in particular the Unesco International Institute For Educational Planning (IIEP) by making material of relevance available to trainees of the centre in Arabic and English, including translating selected material into Arabic and disseminating material on educational planning and management to education authorities in the region
7. University Hospital Sharjah
The University Hospital Sharjah is a patient-centric hospital that brings together a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses and health-care professionals. The hospital has 325 beds spread across multiple specialities, including 210 in-patient beds, 40 speciality outpatient beds, 34 emergency beds, 11 ICU beds, 10 CCU beds, 11 neonatal ICU and 9 daycare beds.
The hospital also includes the first-of-its-kind children’s diabetes clinic specialised in providing check-up, follow-up and treatment, Level 3 NICU equipped to care for babies born at 23 weeks gestation, as well as babies born with critical illnesses at all gestational ages. The hospital provides advanced breast cancer treatment and surgical solutions in collaboration with Gustave Roussy and the hospital’s regional centre of excellence for maternity care with dedicated theatre suite, foetal assessment unit, ultrasound department and neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital was inaugurated by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in 2011. It is located adjacent to the medical campus of the University of Sharjah.
8. Institute of Training and Judicial Studies
Institute of Training and Judicial Studies in Sharjah is a branch of the Abu Dhabi-based Institute of Training and Judicial Studies, which was established in 1992 as an independent federal authority. It assumes the task of preparing the qualified graduate students of the Sharia and law colleges to take over judicial occupations.
The institute provides a specialised training programme for six months within the institute, as well as a further six months for practical training within one of the renowned law firms. The institute also organises study courses for judiciary members in the various legal subjects and specialised training courses for preparing and rehabilitating notary publics, judicial assistants and advocates. It also holds on-request training courses for government officials whose work is related to law and judicial fields. It is also interested in boosting scientific research in the legal and judicial fields through encouragement of the specialised legal and judicial studies and working for issuing and publishing the same.
9. Sharjah Institute of Technology
Sharjah Institute of Technology (SIT) offers UK-based vocational qualification. The institute was launched in 2003 by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. SIT is part of Abu Dhabi Vocational Education & Training Institute and is committed to develop human skills supporting the continuous progress in Sharjah in particular and the UAE in general. SIT is currently working under the umbrella of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). Both SCCI and SIT are committed to developing human capabilities that support sustainable development in Sharjah and the UAE in general. SIT’s programmes of study are specifically designed to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills required to satisfy the needs of the UAE job market.
Students at SIT use the latest equipment, technology and learning strategies. Diplomas are internationally accredited through Edexcel (BTEC) and quality levels are set by the UK Qualifications Curriculum Authority.
Students can go on to university after obtaining a BTEC National, or continue with a BTEC Higher National qualification. Others can go straight into work when they’ve finished BTEC National.
10. University City Hall – Department of Culture and Information
The University City Hall, constructed by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in 2000, is the biggest hall in Sharjah with a capacity for 1,799 people and space of 4,100 square metres.
The hall has witnessed many graduation ceremonies, concerts as well as other educational and scientific ceremonies. The hall is situated at the western side of the University City at Sharjah.
11. Al Qasimia University
Al Qasimia University is the newest edition to the educational institutes of University City. The university, which was established and inaugurated by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in April this year is a specialised Islamic institution that offers its academic programmes through four colleges: College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, College of Arts, College of Economics and College of Communication.
In his inaugural speech, Dr Shaikh Sultan said: “Today, we witness the birth of a new institution that will add richly and uniquely to Sharjah’s cultural landscape and send a message of tolerant Islam to the entire world.” Some 250 men and women students from 45 countries have already been enrolled at the university
12. Police Science Academy
The Police Science Academy was established in 1996 by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. It plays a vital role in creating an Emirati generation capable of maintaining security, stability and the high progress of UAE. The academy offers degrees of qualification in various security, police and science fields.
