Miles to go... before Emiratisation

Academic Abdullah Al Shaiba comments on the need for higher education to bridge the gap between graduates and employment.

Recently the UAE has witnessed the launching of a new, ambitious and well-structured initiative that is the Emirates National Development Programme (ENDP).

It was established by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defence.

The programme will be the bridge, which connects the educational system and the needs of the market by qualifying and training nationals and offering them experience and knowledge according to the market's requirements.

Currently, there are many courses in the UAE that aim to prepare nationals for employment such as The National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority or Tanmia, Ibda'a and Work Passport in addition to ENDP. The main purpose of all these bodies is to help decrease unemployment among nationals, particularly among the graduates.

Easier access to jobs

Since the 1980s, the UAE has been undertaking national strategies and programmes in order to smooth the absorptions of nationals into the labour market.

Within this context, education has been the principal focus for the government.

While the Ministry of Education aims at providing opportunities to young nationals in order to acquire knowledge and skills to compete and lead in a competitive global environment, the gap is still expanding between the higher education outcomes ( programmes and graduates) and local employment market. There are many reasons for this situation, including the lack in preparing the graduates for the employment requirements.

How many UAE nationals are employed?

- In 2004, the labour market in the public and private sectors consisted of 9.3 per cent UAE nationals and 90.7 per cent expatriates

- In 2005 these percentages may become 8.6 per cent nationals and 91.4 per cent expatriates.

- Recent statistics indicate that from 2000 to 2005, 29,682 nationals applied for jobs at Tanmia. This number included 9,300 women.

- Information Courtesy: Tanmia

What stops nationals from working in the private sector?

There have been several studies that were conducted in order to explore the challenges that have confronted recruitment of national graduates in the private sector.

The outcomes of these studies have constructed the foundations and plans for the federal and local governments in their efforts to help unemployed nationals.

In 1997 and 2002, the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and Tanmia respectively implemented comprehensive surveys of UAE national employees in order to investigate the challenges facing them in the private sector.

The main results were:

- Many UAE locals think they did not have fair treatment or efficient training in private companies.

- Low salaries.

- The mismatch between nationals' competencies and job tasks.

- Most locals did not acquire the appropriate language (mostly English skills) and other skills.

- The lack of a clear strategy which will aim at recruiting UAE nationals in the upper and medium job levels that include: upper level jobs; administrators, legislators, craftsmen and specialists and the medium level; technicians and their assistants and clerks. These jobs are mostly occupied by expatriates. ( Tanmia, 2004)

- Insufficient qualifications - many higher education degrees the UAE nationals get do not meet the requirements or expectations of the private sector.

- Most academic programmes and training courses are not appropriate for the current job market.

TACKLING UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UAE

What does the ENDP do?
- The Emirates National Development Programme targets nationals to prepare them for jobs in the private sector.

- It is a strategic part in the emiratisation process, which has been attempting to set up clear connections between the state, national graduates and the local employment sector.

- The focus is on means of improving the quality of higher education outcomes to meet market needs.

The four stages of state intervention to create jobs
- The first stage in the state's intervention to organise and control the work opportunities in the private sector for UAE nationals was in 1980 when the federal Labour Law asserted the priority for locals to work in the private sector.

- The second stage was in 1982 when the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs issued a decision about training nationals in the private sector in many jobs such as finance and real estate, oil field production, transportation and construction.

- The third stage was in 1997 when the Council of Ministers established the Committee for Human Resources Development in the banking sector, which supervises emiratisation in banks.

- The fourth step was in 1999, when a Presidential Decree establishedTanmia.