UAE Education

Executive Summary

UAE is emerging as one of the regional hubs for education in the region. The Private Sector in Dubai consists of 158 schools out of a total of 235 schools operating within the emirate, which is accompanied with an apparent dominance over the total school population within the Emirate. In 2012, 70% private schools in Abu Dhabi were oversubscribed. With rising population, the number of applicants in private schools is likely to rise. Keeping this demand in mind, the ADEC has offered cheap land to private schools in Abu Dhabi. UAE experiences a lot of expat inflows and outflows resulting in huge turnover of students as well making it difficult to anticipate the demand. Construction cost is high in UAE; this combined with a cap on fees exacerbates the problem potentially keeping investors at bay. DIAC (Dubai International Academic City) boasts of multi-tiered International Branch Campuses (IBC's), from 10 different countries and to cater to about 20,000 students of 125 nationalities with choice of pursuing over 400 Higher Education programs.

The report analyses the current status of education in UAE, along with a discussion on the various segments that form a part of it. It details the various streams of education that is available to the expats and residents of UAE (CBSE, ISCE, UK IB, US IB). The report then elaborates on the enrolment by field of study, details of pre-primary education, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education numbers. The report continues to discuss on the demographics, increasing income, government support, opportunities for private education and challenges faced by the education sector. The report ends with a note on regulatory bodies in the UAE and a quantitative comparison of UAE education system with other countries in the GCC region.