DUBAI // Young people should be more open to opportunities to train in vocational courses, say education professionals and students.
Although attitudes are changing, parents and peer pressure still lead many young people to believe that higher education is the only way to a good job.
Indeed, the value of trade-specific education remains largely underrated, according to Prof Ahmad Al Ali, vice chancellor of Emirates Aviation University.
He said the focus on academic education could prove detrimental to students who were intelligent and good with handicrafts but were not academically inclined.
Speaking at the Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (Getex) on Wednesday, Prof Al Ali said such students stood a better chance of finding jobs after completing vocational training.
He said there was a need for more aviation and mechanical engineers, and graduates who did well in their studies had a good chance of securing a job with Emirates Group.
“A successful country and economy are based on having a large population of skilled people and researchers,” said Prof Al Ali. “In Britain, polytechnics have played an important role in building that skills base with vocational courses and that is something we should look at.
“You need people with the relevant skills to turn research into reality, and that is done with vocational training.”
Last year, a Deloitte study, commissioned by Dubai International Academic City, found that only 1 to 3 per cent of students enrolled in vocational education.
That is below the global average of 10 per cent and significantly lower than developed countries such as Germany and Japan, which have enrolment rates of 40 to 50 per cent.
The Deloitte study predicted that the UAE would have a labour shortage of 200,000 this year, with key industries falling short.
The Government is aware of the issue and it has been setting up several vocational institutions in recent years.
“Our aim is to have the highest and best education and we are committed to investing in that,” said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
He said the UAE was an attractive centre for education because of the high quality of the country’s infrastructure and its safe and secure environment.
“Education is a priority for us, as the younger generations are our future and we will continue to invest in that,” said Sheikh Nahyan, who also stressed the importance of vocational education.
“Not every student is academically minded, so vocational education can provide an important way for young people to develop skills.”
Sara Sleem, assistant director of admissions at American University in Dubai, said students should focus on degrees and courses that work to their strengths.
“They pick the courses they think will allow them the best opportunity to get a job,” she said. “But that can be a misconception, and I tell students that it isn’t enough to just have a degree, you need to excel at what you do to stand out.”
Karan Zavar, 17, said parents were pushing their children to enrol in universities. “But academic education doesn’t prepare you properly for the world of work, so I think there should be vocational elements added to it,” he said.
Getex is being held at Dubai World Trade Centre and concludes on Friday.
nhanif@thenational.ae
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The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
Company%20Profile
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press
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Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
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Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Zayed Sustainability Prize
