The United Arab Emirates has for the recent years beheld noteworthy achievements in education. This includes a remarkable increase in adult education programs that has improved literacy level among many adults. In addition, there has been outstanding development of free and cultural education program relevant to all citizens of the United Arabs Emirates. Thus, it has been an eye opener to the curriculum developers who have launched a reform program meant for primary and secondary sections that is bound to yield amazing results. Having completed such outstanding programs, emerging issues in higher education are pressing. This has led to several public administrators to conduct relevant research and implement relevant programs. These programs are meant to improve the higher education section in the country with help from NGOs and other developed nations.
The United Nations is trying to address the issue of Higher Education provision in the United Arab Emirates. Also the issue of information access and human capital are being addressed together with the provision of advanced higher education in the United Arabs Emirates. The main underlying issues being addressed are the maintenance of a high proficient higher education system that can conform to earlier decade’s standards. This education system should create a chance to approach emerging and challenging issues so as to create a satisfactory knowledgeable economy. To meet this issue perfectly, a simultaneous approach is necessary to identify and address relevant issues within the higher education in the country. The United Nations together with World Bank and UNESCO are focused on the underlying problems that may be problematic to a public administrator to provide first class higher education in the country. The World Bank and UNESCO are the main bodies interested in this Arab state.
The main plans and goals is to address the problems and handle them to provide a self-sustaining higher education system that meet international standards. In addition, economic development is the main approach but faced with many problems as will be discussed later. Quality of education, management inefficiency, urgent need for specialized workers, and poor infrastructure are the main problems the interested stakeholders are focused on. A long-term schedule is essential to enable one to achieve the best from such problems. This framework should also address certain issues like health care and provision of better higher education to the students in the university.
There are several challenges, for example, universities in the country are faced with abnormal demand for an advanced education system. This is a similar scenario in the developed and developing nations. This demand is abnormal because necessary funding meant to sustain the advanced education program is irrational and stagnant. The population of students postulated to graduate annually is decreasing at an alarming rate. Another problem that compromises the quality of higher education in the country is the competition from the private sector. 1
Another challenge encountered in United Arab Emirate higher education is when UNESCO and World carried out research and found out a dire need in managerial efficiency. Relevant resources meant for improving the higher education sector is being drained and hence reducing the quality of the sector. Notably, big proportions of budget money are allocated to less important non-educational faculties at the expense of higher education. In developed and developing countries there are duplicative contributions that later leads to repetitive rates. This is also evident in United Arab Emirate. Also this inefficiency can be attributed to urgent need of specialized workers. These workers are vital in allowing the universities to adapt to emerging issues in the global labor market.
A third challenge posed to higher education provision in the country is the low rate of students in federal institutions that offer higher education. This attrition can be attributed to the improper readiness of potential students for the demands needed in higher education. Secondly, students have poor targets towards higher learning. Most students are inadequately skilled to choose goals or relevant degrees that best suits the potential abilities. Most students are in first generation universities and they encounter problems in accessing relevant exposure to career choice. This is a challenge that makes most of the students to dropout. Hence it contributes to high attrition rates. 2
In the case of higher demand, advanced education programs can be resolved by the following ways. First, the best ethical approach to stakeholders to give relevant training on the best channel that education funding should follow. That is, fundraising money should be focused on educational matters. This will avoid the misappropriation of funds and bring the idea that education is vital for any nation’s success.
Efficiency in management is vital. So, in-service courses and relevant training on stewardship would be appropriate to the teaching staff and interested clients. Therefore, this will se to it that non-educational faculties are allocated less funds compared to important educational faculties. Thus, it will reduce duplicative contributions and repetitive rates.
Another serious problem discussed above is attrition. To resolve this challenge is to give mass education on career choice to students at the secondary level. This will prepare students well to have goals that best suits their potential capabilities and meet labor demands in the market. Enough exposure concerning career choice and goals should be provided in the whole education system. This a challenge to curriculum developers to implement a relevant education system that meets the demand of discipline offered in the universities.
Thus the help channeled from the World Bank and UNESCO will improve the higher education sector and meet all the potential challenges addressed above.
Reference
Higher Education and Human Capital are Interwoven, (2010) The National: Article. Web.
Footnotes
- (Higher Education and Human Capital are Interwoven, 2010).
- (Higher Education and Human Capital are Interwoven, 2010).