The education sector in the UAE has registered a 13 per cent growth during the final quarter of 2018, according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI).

The industry growth during the final three months of 2018 coincides with the recently announced National Experts Programme (NEP) by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

As the governments’ ‘Education 2020’ strategy continues to gain momentum in the country, the programme is designed to establish a rich base of national expertise to drive the UAE towards a knowledge-based economy.

Abhijeet Mukherjee, chief executive officer, Monster.com, APAC and Middle East, said: “The positive increase in online hiring across the education sector is no surprise given the UAE’s commitment towards building a knowledge-based economy.”

“The ‘Education 2020’ strategy is underway and has been reinforced by initiatives like the National Experts Programme; the programme is put in place to develop a diverse base of national teams and consultants who will help progress the country,” he said.

“Preparing the Emirati experts of tomorrow requires specialised training and development, as well as a specific skillset which needs to be honed by educational professionals – this may explain the spike in demand within the sector. The long-term objective of the NEP is to grow 100 experts across all industries by 2020, and it will be interesting to see how this impacts the sector in the near future,” he added.

In September 2018, the Abu Dhabi Department for Education and Knowledge (ADEK) announced that 10 new affordable private schools will be established across the country over the next three years.

Part of the Abu Dhabi Development Accelerators Programmes, the formation of the new schools is aimed at raising education capacity in the Emirates.   

Mukherjee continued: “Education remains at the heart of the UAE’s agenda, as the country’s leadership continues to adopt reforms and strategies which are designed to provide the nation’s population with ample educational opportunities.”

“The establishment of new schools, along with revised tuition fees, will drive the sector and result in a growing demand for teachers and educational professionals. As the UAE continues working hard to establish itself as an educational hub, we look forward to seeing what the next few years will look like in the sector,” he concluded.

According to the latest MEI, the UAE recorded a substantial 30 per cent overall increase from the same period last year. Contributing to this positive development are occupations within finance (including accounting) and marketing (including communications, arts and creative) which recorded impressive increases of 30 and 29 per cent respectively.

This was closely followed by software (including hardware and telecom and hospitality (including travel) which benefited from 18 and 11 per cent increases respectively from Q4 2017. – TradeArabia News Service