Over 350 academic institutes from 35 countries to compete for students at the 16th Gulf Education and Training Exhibition

Highlighting the vibrant education sector in the Middle East, as well as underscoring the regional governments' commitment to providing excellent quality in education content and delivery, IC&E have gathered together over 350 academic institutes of international repute from more than 35 countries for the 16th Gulf Education and Training Exhibition. The show will open its doors to visitors tomorrow (Tuesday, April 20, 2004) at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

"Gone are the days when education was considered a desirable luxury. In the global market scenarios of today, quality education has become a crucial necessity for the survival of a country's economy as well as the survival and well-being of an individual," said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director, IC&E. "The quality of education delivered and the size of the bank of qualified and skilled professionals that a market can tap into determine the success and growth of a market economy. This has been amply proven by the emergence of China and India as dynamic market giants on the global stage. Another important factor that has enforced its presence is the importance of continuing education and training even once the student enters the professional workforce. This ensures competitiveness in an increasingly changeable marketplace."

"The talent base in the Arab world is immense; however, the vibrancy of regional markets demands a much larger bank of qualified professionals than is available currently," added Godinho. "In this light, the stress placed by regional governments on the development of the education sector is of great importance. The policies of the UAE government are ensuring the emergence of a new high national standard in higher education, which will be as good as the best education available anywhere in the world."

Of the over 350 academic centres and training institutes participating at the 16th GETX, more than 100 are from the Middle East region, a number that compares favourably with the number of institutes participating from the other regions of the world. The exhibition will feature academic centres from Canada, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Turkey, Iran and India, as well as reputed academic institutions from the GCC and Levant region. While the academic centres based in the US are conspicuous by their absence, both the UAE and Qatar have placed themselves besides Lebanon as the most prolific providers of higher education options. At least two new universities, one based in Kuwait and the other in Dubai, will be making their debut at the exhibition.

In the continuous professional training segment of the education sector, the exhibition will see the emergence of two new trends. On the one hand there will be a definite blurring of lines between training institutes offering professional courses and universities, with the latter offering short term professional courses along with long term study programmes. On the other hand, eLearning technologies will prove their mettle amongst a plethora of learning technologies seeking to improve education delivery in both professional training and education, higher as well as secondary sectors.

"We expect 2004 to be a benchmark year, because the number of regional centres of educational excellence is as high as the number of reputed academic institutes participating from global education leaders such as the UK," stated Godinho. "In addition to this, the UAE government's strict enforcement of an educational standard has succeeded in weeding out all but the best in the education sector. Our vision, as the organisers of GETX, is to support the efforts of the regional governments in developing the education sector. We are also deeply committed to our responsibility towards the student community to provide the best choice in educational options."