Education: Preparing for tomorrow

The 2030 report outlines how the policy of bringing in expertise from abroad 'will result in a stronger education sector' and help to take measures to 'upgrade the curriculum, infrastructure and quality of personnel in selected public schools'.

The document also states that schools will be tasked with providing nationals with skills that can help them contribute more fully to the formal economy.

'These plans make huge sense,' says Tayeb Chakera, chief operating officer of GEMS Education UK, which has schools across the UAE and the GCC region.

'They have obviously realised that it is only through the empowerment of the people through education that the nation is going to thrive economically - and we have been drumming on that same drum here in the United Kingdom since 1845.'

GEMS Education is just one of the private sector operators that Abu Dhabi has brought into boost the quality of local schools.

The introduction of standardised, international curricula is a fundamental part of the emirate's plans for education up to 2030 and the private sector looks set to play a key role in implementing these changes. 'It is no good if the Gulf region just has quality education for the expats, you need to have it for the local community as well,' says Chakera.

Gulf opportunity

Abu Dhabi will also place more emphasis on business education in the future, the report suggests, with the government expected to publish a comprehensive report on the sector by mid-2009. The recently opened Insead Centre for Executive Education and Research in Abu Dhabi, therefore, could soon face greater competition from other business schools.

'In terms of an opportunity, we see the Gulf region as a strong area of economic growth in the future,' admits Stefan Szymanski, associate dean and director of the MBA programme at Cass Business School, a wing of City University London. 'The Gulf states in general have huge ambitions for education,' he says.

Cass Business School has been brought into help add credibility to the Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi could well bring in similar schools to boost its business education and skills training. 'Everywhere you go in the Gulf there is a terrible shortage of skilled labour,' say Szymanski.

'That means that it is very hard to hold onto people and it is very hard to hire people - the only long-term solution is to train a lot of people locally because you're not always going to be able to buy in on the international market very easily.'

Bringing up education standards may well be one of the toughest challenges in Abu Dhabi's vision for 2030, but it is also one of the most critical. By bringing in experts from abroad, however, Abu Dhabi could well create a generation of 'baby-boomers' that will help it shift away from its dependence on oil and towards a knowledge-based economy.