University defers decision on male pupils

Dubai: Zayed University has postponed the enrolment of male students into its Dubai campus for a further 16 months, officials said.

The university had initially planned to admit between, 50 to 100 male students in September. But it had to postpone the decision due to an overwhelming response of over 500 students.

"This put a lot of pressure on us, given that we don't have enough facilities to accommodate these students. [Therefore], under the instructions of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, we will work on it properly and study [the matter] to see how we can cater for this number of students in future," said Dr Sulaiman Al Jasem, vice-president of the university.

Female students will still be admitted after the summer holidays. The number of places available to international students will be limited, with no available accommodation at present.

The reason for opening up the institution to applications from international students, who will pay fees, is not for economic reasons. "It is not because we need to make money," said Al Jasem.

He said the fees charged would be at cost price. "The main reason is we need to add different nationalities and cultures to our student body. Students will come with different races and cultures and will add a lot to our students. Living in a global village, you have to open the ceiling to let people join each other. At the end of the day they are going to work in the business sector and mix with non-nationals and non-Arabs also."