Educationists discuss concept of emiratisation

The concept of emiratisation and the preparation of national human resources to replace expatriates was discussed by educationists from Ajman University of Science and Technology during a seminar at its Fujairah campus.

Management and Emiratisation in the Public and Private Sectors was conducted by Dr. Abdullah Al Suwaiji, Professor at the university's Business Management College.

Dr. Al Suwaiji began his presentation by dealing with the concept of emiratisation in terms of preparing nationals and improving their professional skills so that they could take up responsibilities.

"It is essential that we depend on our national workforce and help them take up different jobs that could improve their living conditions," said Dr. Al Suwaiji.

Local educational output must match current advancements and market demands, he said. "We have to realise that nationals graduating from our educational institutions should match the country's real manpower requirements."

He proposed bridging the gap "that exists between what is being taught to national students at universities and the real needs of the local labour market."

Dr. Al Suwaiji pointed out that there are two kinds of emiratisation – one that focuses on recruiting nationals in the public sector without taking into consideration the quality of their professionalism; and authentic emiratisation which focuses on putting a suitable national employee in a suitable job, according to his qualification and skills.

"The idea of emiratisation basically originated from the sudden rise in the country's population in the last few years," said Dr. Al Suwaiji.

He noted that around 63.9 per cent of the total population in 1975 was non-national. This percentage increased to 71.3 per cent in 1985 and to 75.6 per cent in 1995.

The number of nationals in the UAE was 249,157 in 1975, increasing to 1.2 million in 1995 and to 1.6 million in 2000.

"Many nationals are responsible for this imbalance in the population structure, some of the reasons being the refusal to work in service projects such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies," he added.

Other reasons include the shortage of the national numbers in productive and industrial projects, the unemployed expatriate workforce, the growing number of small ventures like groceries and tailor shops which attract expats; also nationals depending on the expatriate workforce to do jobs like housemaids.

Dr. Al Suwaiji said the emiratisation process cannot be achieved at the same speed in all sectors.

"We should select the work sectors we should emiratise like education, which has a direct relation with the development of national human resources," he added.

There are 645 national male teachers working in the country, a rate of 2.8 per cent of the total number of teachers till 2000. On the other hand, there are 7,130 national women teachers who form 31.2 per cent of the total women teachers in the UAE.

"This means that there are more than 140,000 job positions for nationals in the educational sector which could be emiratised," he said.

Nationals form 11.6 per cent of the total number of employees in banks, 50 per cent of whom hold higher job positions. On the other hand, nationals form 13 per cent of the total number of employees in national banks and 10 per cent in the foreign banks.

"Again, there are more than 12,000 job positions for nationals in the banking sector in the UAE," said Dr. Al Suwaiji.

He stressed the importance of activating local legislation concerning the emiratisation process and to adapt these rules to the requirements for emiratising the private sector. He also said more national women should be encouraged to work in sectors other than teaching.

Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al Kindi, Director of the Fujairah Ruler's Office, who attended the seminar, highlighted the importance of adopting new strategies to help replace more expatriates with nationals, but said it will need time.

Mohammed bin Majid, Director of the Fujairah Department of Industry and Economy, who also attended, stressed the need for encouraging young nationals to take up jobs that required the use of professional skills. He said the country still needs national electrical, technical and productive engineers, in addition to accountants and male teachers.

Others at the seminar included Khalifa Khamis Mattar, Chairman of the Fujairah Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Dr. Ali Al Amayrah, Director of the university's Fujairah Campus and Dr. Hikmat Al Rawi, from the university.