Students opt for vocational training

Mohammad Bukhammas is no ordinary student. At 14 he has left school and joined the Sharjah Institute of Technology (SIT) to specialise in automobile engineering.

Common in the West, vocational education and training is a rising trend in the East and gaining popularity in the UAE.

Bukhammas is one among a few UAE youth turning to what is defined by SIT director Malcolm Pickering as ‘learning by doing'. "I like to work with my hands more than writing and studying," said Bukhammas.

Although his father prefers he follow an academic route in business or architecture, Bukhammas quickly identified a profession incorporating his passion. "I like cars and engines and who doesn't have a car," he said. "It's about what you love because you are going to do it your whole life."

Starving market

The Executive Director of the National Institute for Vocational Education (NIVE) Dr Naji Al Mahdi said: "The market is starving for vocational training."

According to Al Mahdi, a rise in graduate unemployment led to the creation of NIVE, an initiative of the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). "We identified a huge gap in the spectrum of education and we want to fill this gap in the UAE," he said.

NIVE's ethos is that of an inclusive education open to both UAE nationals and expatriates because thus far higher education in the UAE is exclusive, Al Mahdi said.

He said NIVE develops programmes in conjunction with industry requirements by surveying the market. He gave the example of a programme developed by NIVE as a result of the huge demand for draftsmen by Dubai Municipality. "Tell me, who in the UAE has graduated from university as a draftsman?"

Al Mahdi added that vocational education is the backbone of all developing nations, their technological development and the nationalisation of their workforce. "You need doers and thinkers because that is the backbone of productivity."

Lack of awareness

Managing director of the EMDI Institute of Media and Communications Nowshir Engineer said vocational education is far more accepted among the UAE's expatriate population as most have prior knowledge of what it constitutes. "Exposure to vocational training is less in the UAE so it may be difficult for some to understand this concept," said Engineer.

Pickering said it is fast becoming known in the UAE that middle-role jobs, such as technicians and technologists, are in demand. He said currently graduates are plenty, yet the UAE still imports expatriate workers to fill positions that should ideally be filled by Emiratis.

According to Pickering, in any civilised society, especially since the invention of television and the personal computer, "not all people have the brain capacity to identify with the written word". He said a university education assumes everyone has this ability and hence tasks are assigned that must be completed through reading and research, which is clearly not for everyone.

"I think people worship the degree too much rather than actually looking at what's needed by industry and commerce," Pickering said.

To reinforce Pickering's views, Al Mahdi acknowledged that most parents have ambitions for their children to succeed. "Yet they look at it from one dimension," he said. But opportunities are also there in areas other than academic education.

Culture transformation

Boudur Saif is in her last year at SIT pursuing a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Travel and Tourism. She said she chose a vocational institute because when she looked for her specialisation at public universities it was not on offer.

"I prefer learning this way because everything is practical," she said. "Books and lessons are boring; this [vocational training] is what will help us more."

Boudur said within three years of study she has gained valuable work experience and transferrable life skills. "I have older friends at university and they have not yet learned things I have," said Boudur. She went on to compare the study of theory and practical application saying that because she applied the skills straight away, "I will remember them".

Pickering said according to a recent census the Emirati population is set to double by 2020, and as a result, cultural transformation is inevitable.

"If you run a country you have a social responsibility to provide work for all your people, not just those at the top," he said, adding that Emiratis must take on, what he called, middle-management roles.

"Some have to start at the middle and work up because eventually all Emiratis are going to need jobs."