This research aims at investigating whether Sharjah has the capability to export higher education to other countries. The assessment will be performed through the analysis of primary data.
Introduction
The development of education system can be boosted by expanding the territories of services. Once a city is self-sustaining in education, the other vital goal would be to move out for business and integration of the system to other countries with inadequate learning facilities (Gonzalez, 2008). This paper proposes an investigation to evaluate the capabilities of Sharjah in exporting education to other countries by answering these research questions.
Purpose
It may be tricky to tell when a city is self-sustaining in education without conducting a study based on the development made within it. If such research is not conducted, a country or city may make immature and inappropriate exportation when their educational needs are not enough for their country.
Context of the Research
Research has dictated that Sharjah offers reliable education to male and females whose literacy capacities have increased from 54% in 1975 to 90% in the year 2015 (Ibrahim, 2013). This strategic improvement shows educational expansion and exposure of skills as well as experiences within the market. The government of Sharjah supports the education system in conjunction to the UAE country which has set up the national leadership in learning.
Furthermore, Sharjah has been selected as the most effective learning center capable of creating a university city to foster education. Among the named institutions located and managed in Sharjah include University of Sharjah, American University of Sharjah, Skyline University, the Higher Colleges of Technology, Sharjah Institute of Technology, University Hospital of Sharjah, Sharjah Police Academy, and University Dental Hospital of Sharjah among others (Romero, 2013). The technologic development of the education system is also apparent from the use of computer technology including computer resource centers, internet connections, laptops, projectors and iPads. In UAE, the overall improvement of education is improving as shown in the following table.
The development of the education systems in UAE is effective and reliable in the current time. The need of studying overseas is no longer necessary since educators are graduating and developing their education progressively and locally (Soomro & Ahmad, 2012). In fact, the education ministry is committed to develop learning by setting such systems as vigor recruitment and evaluation system aimed at improving teaching abilities. The literal information presented above only informs about the achievements of Sharjah as a City and UAE as the country (Kirk, 2010). The proposed research identified that there is a gap-in-knowledge on whether these achievements are credible enough to allow educational institutions to explore outside their nation. The research harbors the capabilities to recommend expansion of all the mentioned systems of education by determining whether all the technical requirements for international involvement.
Research question
This research will answer the following questions
- Does Sharjah have the capacity to export education services to other countries?
- Is Sharjah self-sufficient in education?
- Does it have the abilities to render education services in other nations?
Research Methodology
A strategic approach must be set to collect and analyze data in order to approve or disapprove the hypothesis. The methodology will have the section of consent from respondents, setup of the interview questions, data collection and their analysis.
Methods and Procedures of the Primary Research
In a bid to answer the research questions, it is important to evaluate the development of the education system and determine whether the country is sufficient enough to deliver learning in other countries. A proposition that Sharjah is capable of exporting education to other countries can be used to perform the investigation. This hypothesis can be investigated by seeking qualitative data from the organization located in Sharjah (Creswell & Clark, 2007).
The assessment will be conducted by use of interviews from managers and administrators in order to evaluate whether the institutions are ready to expand. First, a consent letter will be sent to the various institutions located in Sharjah after conducting a random sample selection. The managers from these institutions will be identified and sent consent letters seeking interview responses in order to identify the validity of the research investigation. Once the responses are received indicating whether the managers accept to be interviewed, information will be collected using a set of questions directed to seek insight on the capabilities of expanding their learning systems in other countries.
The interview may be directed to retrieve information of any starting or existing branches in other countries, collaboration with other learning institutions abroad, the existence of plans to create institutions elsewhere, as well as the actual capacity to make such higher learning institutions. This research will also be enriched by seeking the challenges and advantages associated with forming the institutions in other countries. The data will be analyzed descriptively in order to identify the ability of all higher institutions in fostering exportation of education. Some of the data will be subject to quantitative analysis where regression is performed to evaluate the significance level of situating the institutions abroad. Quantitative analysis provides the most reliable information since it is testable and confirmatory. Using this data, a research is able to validate the possibility of an occurrence and its course of actions. In this manner, it is possible to state whether Sharjah should export education.
Apart from the primary data, secondary data can be collected from the UAE ministry of education and World Bank. The validity of the ideas made on the research will be supported using peer-reviewed resources and other reliable sources. This aspect ensures that the credibility of each idea is valid in order to prevent misinformation. The consent will be sent to 3 key managers operating in each of the selected institutions within the population sample. The 3 consent forms will be distributed in order to provide room for the managers who are not available for the interview. A minimum number of key institutions to be assessed will be 10 in order to ensure reliability of outcomes.
Challenges and Solutions
This research may be subject to various challenges related to availability, ignorance and willingness. It is expected that some of the consent letters will either not receive responses or the replies will not be made in a timely manner. The managers may agree or disagree to participate in the interviews, which makes the quorum of the population sample unreachable. Furthermore, the positive consent responses may face other challenges where the managers are occupied in other places without the expectations of the interviewer. These issues of ignorance can be solved by maintaining a constant communication with the interviewees or their secretaries in order to ensure that the allocated time is set solely for the interviews. It is also vital for the interviewer to be punctual for the assessment in order to avoid inconveniences on the working schedules of the managers.
References
Creswell, J., & Clark, V. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. Web.
Gonzalez, G. (2008). Facing human capital challenges of the 21st century education and labor market initiatives in Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Santa Monica, CA: RAND. Web.
Ibrahim, A. (2013). Approaches to supervision of student teachers in one UAE teacher education program. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34(2), 38-45. Web.
Kirk, D. (2010). The development of higher education in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, UAE: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. Web.
Romero, E. (2013). Problems Encountered by Filipino Educators in United Arab Emirates: Their Effects on Service Commitment. Liceo Journal of Higher Education Research LJHER, 9(1), 4-57. Web.
Soomro, T., & Ahmad, R. (2012). Quality in Higher Education: United Arab Emirates Perspective. Higher Education Studies HES, 2(4), 148-152. Web.