Almost 20 Emirati students have enrolled in courses at top universities around the world this summer under a new scheme launched by the Ministry of Education.
The 19 students, who attend public universities in the UAE, will study advanced sciences, international affairs, business and energy at universities in the UK, Canada, South Korea and the US.
Their courses will be paid for by the Ministry under the Ambassadors programme that organises two to six-week workshops or training courses abroad for school pupils, university students and teachers every spring and summer.
Previously, students had to organise their own summer courses abroad and fund them themselves. The new scheme means the Ministry pays for the trips and credits earned from the courses count towards participating students' academic transcripts.
The Emirati students, from Zayed University, Khalifa University and UAE University, will be studying at the London School of Economics, and the University of Leeds in the UK, Korea University in South Korea, McGill University in Canada and the University of California, Berkeley in the US.
Launched in 2016, the Ambassadors programme aims to diversify Emirati students’ knowledge while also giving them the best opportunities to study abroad and gain valuable experience.
This year, 731 school pupils, 112 teachers and 102 university students will have undergone training under the programme.
“We have started in a new direction with national universities and colleges where we assist students to get admission in summer courses in international universities,” said Dr Amna Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary of the activities sector at the Ministry.
"The Ministry recognised the impact of international exposure on students and that is why this programme was introduced in collaboration with the public universities in UAE," she said.
Dr Al Shamsi said the initiative would benefit the students and in turn strengthen national institutes.
"This will help students
get access to international courses and explore other opportunities for postgraduate studies in those universities," she said.
“Many students fear joining international universities for higher education because they do not know the environment or how the system works. This breaks that barrier and allows our students to have that exposure.”
Sophie Oakes, higher education adviser at Gabbitas, an education consultancy in Dubai, said summer programmes are crucial for students and common elsewhere in the world.
"Universities want students that are intellectually and culturally curious and value students who have participated in summer programmes," Ms Oakes said.
“When you apply to a university for a summer course you have gone above and beyond the curriculum to study something,” she said.
“When students are applying for a master’s or a graduate degree, a summer programme is a huge plus point.
“Emirati students are quite likely to be ahead of the game as they live in such an international society.
“When they are travelling for six weeks and doing courses, they are being exposed to different cultures and inspiring campuses. They may want to study a master’s elsewhere.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
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Scores
Wales 74-24 Tonga
England 35-15 Japan
Italy 7-26 Australia
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Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
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Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
