With a relatively low illiteracy rate and a substantial amount of investment by the government in education, the UAE is poised to develop a future workforce in IT. At the primary level both private and public schools play and important role, but the country is careful to recognize the number of "IT Teachers" in each system. In the college and university system the country has a dedicated 14 school network known as the Higher Colleges of Technology. Unlike many other Middle Eastern countries where women's education isn't encouraged or even allowed, in the UAE are afforded all the opportunities of men when it comes to education, in fact women IT workers in the federal government outnumber men.
The overall illiteracy rate in the UAE currently stands at 10%. Among this group elderly citizens of the UAE are the most illiterate because schooling and literacy programs were not widely available during that time. For many years now the country has provided free primary and secondary education to children (primary school education is compulsory). Older adults who are not literate are also eligible for free education classes. Of adults taking literacy courses women outnumber men.
According to goals set by UNESCO's "Education for All" program, the UAE leads all other Arab countries. Although Arabic is the official language of the UAE, most school children also learn English which is also widely spoken and viewed to be the language of business in the UAE. Currently estimates in the UAE expect the countries literacy rate will reach towards 100% within the next five years. (19)
Elementary and secondary education in the UAE is provided by the government. Even though this is the case, the number of students in private education outnumbers the number of students in public education.
Public School Stats 2004/2005
- 141 ,142 Male Students
- 145,956 Female Students
- 23,807 Teachers (8,662 male and 15,154 female)
- 539 IT Subject Teachers
Private School Stats 2003/2004
- 168,370 Male Students
- 147,427 Female Students
- 21,363 Teachers
- 598 IT Subject Teachers
The UAE has an important initiatives for computer training it is implementing in the public school system and some private schools. The first is the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) . The ICDL is an international standard for computer literacy adopted in over 140 countries. In 2005 120 teachers and supervisors had participated in the program, by 2008 all facilities under the Abu Dhabi Education Zone will be required to have completed the ICDL certification. (19) (20)
The UAE Ministry of Education has also created a single educational portal for both elementary and secondary school students in both public and private school. The portal titled Moeya (http://www.moeya.ae) has a variety of news and information for school age children and links into many other resources available to children through their schools or other government entities.
Participation in Higher Education by UAE nationals is considered to be among the highest in the world with a rate of 95% of females and 80% of males continuing from High School into secondary education. In 2004, the number of students in higher education was 85,200. Of this number 13% were enrolled in programs in the ICT fields.
In 1998 the UAE established four founding college which made up the Higher Colleges of Technology. At the time total student enrollment was 239. These schools have become well respected for innovative learning in the UAE and now comprise 14 schools in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah. Current enrollment at the schools is approximately 16,000 students. Over 80 percent of the program taught at these 14 schools are delivered in English.
Many organizations have entered into partnerships with the HCT to provide training and development programs - these include Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Shell through their Intilaaqah entrepreneurship program . Industry links have led to the establishment of HCT's commercial arm, the Center of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT). The center is involved in strategic alliances with a number of multinational organizations to collaborate on a full range of business and technology solutions. (21)
To date the Higher Colleges of Technology have awarded over 28,600 academic credentials to over 14,400 graduates. (22)
American University also maintains a close relationship with the American University of Sharjah (UAS) (http://www.aus.edu/). The AUS offers 21 bachelor's degrees, 35 minors, and 8 master's degrees. Student's can earn a BA in Computer Engineering and Computer Science.
Etisalat, the large national Telecom company also has established an academy which serves as a corporate training institution not only for Etisalat employees, but many other high tech companies in the region as well. (http://www.eacademy.ae) "The academy is considered to be an exclusive regional representative for many international vocational and profession authorities from the USA and Europe." The academy is the first school in the Middle East established to test, certify and approve "IT Security" engineers and experts with the International American Authority for Information Technology Security. (14)
To support the countries human capital development in ICT, the IT Education Project (ITEP) project was created. Begun in 2000 the ITEP is part of a government lead strategy to create the UAE Knowledge Economy. The program provides course in 40 high schools in the UAE (20 in Dubai, and 20 in Abu Dhabi) and over 13,000 students pass through the program every year. Providing a high quality, industry-relevant IT education, ITEP complements the Ministry of Education’s aim of introducing new means of teaching. The IT academies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the vital administrative heart of the project. They are responsible for teacher training and courseware development, Internet-based anytime, anywhere, adaptive learning, project management and quality assurance for all ITEP initiatives. (19)
The program was expanded to support e-government initiatives by introducing programs to increase the IT literacy level of government employees. (14)
Women play a significant role in the UAE economy, particularly the ICT economy in the country. In 1996 the UAE signed and international agreement stating equality between male and female workers, giving women the same access and pay that men receive.
In the federal government IT sector women actually outnumber the men, 55.6% to 44.4%. (14)
