Day: May 19, 2023

Education

Dubai reveals new two-year plan to boost education sector smartly

head dubai May 19, 2023 No Comments

Three themes outlined in Knowledge Fund Establishment’s Strategic Plan 2023-2025.

The Knowledge Fund Establishment in Dubai today launched its Strategic Plan 2023-2025 focused on further enhancing the emirate’s status as a leading hub for knowledge investments in the region.

The Plan revolves around three main themes: investment portfolio sustainability, educational asset allocation and educational initiatives management.

Under the first theme of investment portfolio sustainability, the Establishment aims to develop an investment portfolio that helps enhance the sustainability and diversification of investment sources. The investment portfolio will support educational initiatives in the emirate and help develop its educational system.

Under the second theme of educational asset allocation, the Establishment seeks to enhance investment opportunities in the education and knowledge sector and further attract investors from around the world. The Establishment seeks to create a compelling value proposition for investments in the emirate’s educational assets, including lands and facilities designated by the government to meet the education sector’s needs and achieve the emirate’s strategic objectives.

Under the third theme of the new strategy of educational initiatives management, the Establishment seeks to establish a competitive educational environment that encourages creativity and innovation and enables various segments of the community – including students, parents, and teaching staff – to benefit from the unmatched opportunities offered through the educational initiatives and projects that the Establishment is a part of, including Dubai Schools and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Distinguished Students Programme.

The Establishment will play a pivotal role in strengthening the emirate’s attractiveness for education service providers by making it easier for them to take advantage of the government’s initiatives.

Avenues for growth

Ahmed Abdul Karim Julfar

Ahmed Abdul Karim Julfar, Chairman of the Knowledge Fund Establishment, said: “The Knowledge Fund Establishment’s new strategy is in line with the vision and aspirations of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, to further enhance the emirate’s educational sector and boost its competitiveness.

He added: “To achieve this, we strive to enhance knowledge and educational investment opportunities, develop a sustainable investment portfolio, and harness its revenues to support the growth of the education sector in the emirate.”

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of the Knowledge Fund Establishment, said: “Since its establishment in 2007, the Knowledge Fund Establishment has worked to fulfil the goals of the leadership to create a robust educational environment that supports the growth of the knowledge economy. With the launch of our new Strategic Plan, we will collaborate with our partners in the government and private sectors to enhance the positive impact of educational initiatives and projects designed to raise the capabilities of all segments of Dubai’s.

He added: “Based on our participatory approach, we are keen to involve all stakeholders in the process of developing the new strategy and designing initiatives and projects. We firmly believe in the importance of engaging these parties, who are a central part of the new Strategic Plan. We look forward to working with all of our partners to implement its objectives.”

Education

UAE schools make for high-caliber investments, with new players lining up $300m to buy them

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India’s JV Ventures latest to confirm interest, plans $300m spend to buy existing schools.

Schools in the UAE are back at being hot investment choices, with new entrants lining up massive funds to build or acquire existing assets.

India’s JV Ventures is the latest to get into this space, with a top official recently confirming plans to spend up to $1 billion to buy between ’12-15 schools’ in the UAE and the region.

“About 30 per cent of the investment exposure would be for the UAE,” said Vishal Goel, the co-founder of JV Ventures. “We are in the advanced stages of discussion with some schools and will likely close it soon.”

The company’s portfolio includes the Jain Group of Institutions in Bengaluru and Sancta Maria International Schools in Hyderabad.

Investment model

The company is eyeing schools offering international curriculums with a fee structure ranging between Dh44,000-Dh90,000 a year. As part of the company’s investment model, JV Ventures will acquire the infrastructure from the current owner and lease it back to them.

The operation of the school is then entrusted to experienced school operators. “This approach allows schools to allocate more resources to educational initiatives by relieving the burden of infrastructure management from the school operator,” said Goel.

The UAE, and Dubai in particular, has one of the best private education regulators in the world. They have created a very healthy ecosystem for education, making it easy for parents to choose schools for their children.

– Vishal Goel, Co-Founder, JV Ventures

On the likely RoI, Goel said, “We are not investing in education; we are investing in real estate assets. Currently, global interest rates are very high, and since the dirham is pegged to the dollar, we are looking at a yield of 7 per cent on school assets.”

Investors are attracted by opportunities in the UAE education value chain, right from early childhood learning to enrolling for higher academic credentials.

With multiple new school openings already and many more in the pipeline, the sector is seeing investment inflows in the region of $500 million, said Ashwin Assomull, Partner at UK-based LEK Consulting and Head of its Global Education Practice.

More new schools

This year, the sector is preparing for the launch of at least six new schools, some of which could open as early in the 2023-24 academic year itself. Sources at Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) indicated that more school openings are on the horizon, with additional announcements expected in the coming months.

The new schools are – Noya British School, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, Arcadia Global School, Nord Anglia International School Abu Dhabi, Rashid and Latifa, and a possible one from GEMS.

Earlier this month, Taaleem officially announced the opening date of Dubai British School – Jumeira Campus. The facility will open in August 2024 and cater for up to 1,650 students.

ENROLLMENT NUMBERS, SCHOOLS SKYROCKET IN DUBAI
2019- 2020 – 295,148 students in 208 schools

2020 – 2021 – 279,191 students in 210 schools

2021 – 2022 – 289,019 students in 215 schools

2022- 2023 – 302,262 students in 215 schools

2022- 2023 (Fall) – 326,001 students in 216 schools

Enrolment rates are skyrocketing. Dubai’s private school enrolment grew 4.5 per cent, admitting 326,001 students compared to 311,910 the previous year. The new institutions will add thousands of new seats nationwide.

“There have been several operators who have been waiting and watching to see how the UAE grows,” said Shweta Wahi, Director, Operations and People and Culture at Transnational Academic Group Middle East and at Curtin University Dubai. “A lot of the people on the fence are now making moves to enter the market.”

Multiple factors for success

Assomull said that by population growth alone (expected to surge to nearly six million in 20 years), UAE schools would organically see more enrolments.

The UAE’s high GDP per capita and the financial resources available to residents contribute to a strong demand for education services throughout the value chain. And there is a very strong correlation between enrollment in private schools and GDP.

– Ashwin Assomull, Partner LEK Consulting and Head of Global Education Practice

“With the situation around Russia and Ukraine, the wealthiest people (from there) have decamped to Dubai. From India, there is a continuous migration of folks. As taxes increase on European citizens, many UK and European expatriates are considering moving to Dubai.”

Assomull said all these present plenty of opportunities for new schools. “It’s a combination of local home-grown operators and new investors. Private equity investors are looking at investing in local platforms.

“For example, the global K-12 provider Cognita Education witnessed impressive growth in a short time in the UAE.”

Stiff competition

Shools offering unique concepts, innovative curricula, and disruptive products will be the winners, said Dr. Adil Al Zarooni, CEO of Al Zarooni Emirates Investments and founder of Citizen School.

The school was launched last academic year and has already exceeded 50 per cent of targeted enrolment rates, and more campuses are on the horizon. While existing curricula are highly effective, the need is for a unique ‘Dubai curriculum’, said Dr. Al Zarooni.

Entrepreneurship is no longer a privilege. It is survival. For the last 200 years, the education system has created ideal employees. That needs to change. We need to educate children to have entrepreneurship skills right from the get-go.

– Dr. Adil Al Zarooni, Founder, Citizen School

“One that trains students to become entrepreneurs, instead of workers, from the early years. Now is the time to ensure children develop skillsets that AI wouldn’t easily take on in the future. That is going to be a keyword in the education sector.”

“Irrespective of the target audience, demography, location, and price point, most schools today lack a clear focus on what their offering to the parents and students are.”

Education

Dubai private schools ranked in top 10 globally for reading skills

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UK curriculum schools in Dubai performed best, followed by IB curriculum and Indian schools.

Dubai private schools have been ranked sixth in the world for reading and literacy skills.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment, which is done every five years to measure the reading and literacy skills of grade four pupils worldwide, found that private schools in Dubai scored 566 points in the 2021 study – significantly higher than the global average of 500 points.

The latest results show Dubai schools, which feature in the top 10 for the first time, have increased their score by 76 points since 2011. In 2016, when the previous study was carried out, Dubai schools scored 527.

Schools rated Outstanding scored 631 points, while Very Good and Good schools scored 588 points and 564 points respectively.

UK curriculum schools in Dubai performed best in the assessment, scoring 588 points, followed by IB curriculum schools with 583 points and Indian schools with 567.

“These results are significant not just because they exemplify the world-class teaching and learning happening across our schools every day,” said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, KHDA director general.

“They are also an acknowledgement of how our school community worked together to overcome the restrictions in place at the time PIRLS was conducted.”

The PIRLS assessment found 27 per cent of pupils in Dubai private schools achieved the Advanced International Benchmark of 625 points, compared with 12 per cent in 2016.

A questionnaire in the study found that 87 per cent of Dubai private school pupils are confident in reading.

“The results from the latest PIRLS assessments reflect the performance of the school inspections, with Outstanding and Very Good schools outperforming global averages,” said Fatma Belrehif, chief executive at Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau.

“We are proud of our school community’s dedicated approach to supporting students through the pandemic and continuing to offer high-quality education during challenging times.”

The PIRLS assessment, which has been running since 2001, requires nine and 10-year-olds from grade four or year five to complete comprehension tests.

It provides internationally comparative data on how well children read by assessing students’ reading achievement in different countries.

PIRLS, which is run by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in Amsterdam and Boston College in the US, assessed about 400,000 pupils in 57 countries.

On Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, praised the success of the UAE’s annual Arab Reading Challenge, which he said has become the largest such event in the world.

Sheikh Mohammed said 24.8 million school pupils from 46 countries had taken part in this year’s competition, the finals of which are expected to be held towards the end of the year.

The annual challenge, launched by Sheikh Mohammed in 2015, aims to encourage a million young people to read at least 50 books in a year.

The Arab Reading champion is selected based on the pupil’s ability to articulate general knowledge, critical thinking and communication skills, plus the diversity of books they have selected.