Universities for girls in UAE

Table of content: 1. Introduction 2. Education system in UAE 3. Higher education in UAE 3.1 Universities and college - ublic and !rivate - "evels of education - #tudents $ admissions - %aculty staff 3.& Higher education for 'omen in the UAE - Islamic influence on 'omen education - Universities and colleges for 'omen - ur!ose( vision and !ost-graduate careers 4. )onclusion

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Introduction In the increasingly o!en and integrated 'orld com!etition has become a !reoccu!ation of the higher education sector. The com!etitive forces that accom!any the global free-mar*et economic system im!act every level of globali+ation of the higher education sector in many 'ays( es!ecially 'hen it is combined 'ith the 'orld'ide ,*no'ledge economy-. .ne of its *ey features is the manifestation of academic ca!italism 'hen 'ith gro'ing demand in freemar*et system( the global higher education environment is e/!eriencing increased !rivate and cross-border !rovision of institutions and students mobility1. In the ne' economy( government involvement may vary de!ending on the local conte/t develo!ment needs and the 'ealth of each country. In the UAE the government has been e/!ending higher education im!acting not only !ublic institutions but also !rivate forms of higher education. It has chosen to im!act higher education !rograms and !ersonnel from other countries( evolving in the end into ,hybrid system- in 'hich ra!id !rivate !rovision is being encouraged and su!!orted by the government alongside the e/!ansion of the federal institutions.& .ne of the ma0or investments made by the UAE are those 'hich significantly increase the intellectual ca!ital and ca!abilities. #etting u! an internationally com!etitive research bound universities have a dee! and beneficial effects by increasing the creative ca!abilities of individual students and giving a chance to create ne' ideas and do develo! more !rofound *no'ledge. It 'ill create much better educated society. Another benefit of the innovative education investments is a chance to create ne' 0obs and ne' 'ealth trough the transfer of the ne' ideas and technologies to the !rivate sector. It also brings a lot of social benefits li*e better health( im!roved teaching and learning standards as 'ell as the security of the nation.

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The education system in the UAE After the founding of the United Arab Emirates on 3ecember &nd( 1;:1( there 'as a tremendous e/!ansion of !ublic education facilities. #ection 1: of the )onstitution states that education is fundamental to the !rogress of society( is to be com!ulsory at the !rimary level and free at all levels. Uniforms( boo*s( e<ui!ment and school trans!ort are also free. In the seven years of the UAE=s e/istence( education 'as second only to defense in the federal budget. The education system in the country consists of !rimary level >age ?-11@( !re!aratory level >age 1&-1A@( secondary level >age 19-1:@ and tertiary level >!ost secondary education@. 7y 1;:&-1;:3( the first full academic year follo'ing the formation of the UAE( the government o!erated an estimated 1A6 schools( t'elve of 'hich offered boarding facilities.3 8o'adays( 11;6 schools o!erate in the UAE( out of 'hich A?: are !rivate and :&3 are government o!erated. In 3ubai the education ratio is different. The ma0ority of schools are !rivate and only 39B ( that is :; schools( are !ublic 'ith their !rograms and curriculum !rovided by the 5inistry of Education. The remaining 1A9 school are !rivately o!erated and they use in instruction 1: different school curriculum( including the ministerial one.A The gross enrolment ratio >CE1@ in !rimary education is ;DB for boys and ;3B for girls and the total number of students in &66D 'as &16(1:3 in 5oE schools and 93(:61 in !rivate schools. The girls made the total of 13A(666 students( 'hich is AD(&B. The government s!ending on the education budget in &669 rose to ? billion 3irham=s( e<ual to 1(?3 billion U#3. The standard budget allocation on education in UAE average yearly &&(9B.9 In recent times( the UAE government has introduced the education reforms by im!roving the English language teaching methods and im!lementing the !rogram of IT use in instruction( trying to overhaul the traditional school system in UAE related to the Arabic and Islamic culture. The instruction language used in 5oE administered schools is Arabic( 'ith some science and technical classes held in English. In ma0ority of !rivate school the language of instruction is English. ,Te/tboo*s for all educational sub0ects and levels are issued by the government and academic freedom is restricted. Islamic education is com!ulsory for all 5uslims and instructs girls to obey their fathers and to acce!t their !rimary roles as mother and 'ives. #chools that teach sub0ects that contravene Islam or <uestions the government ethics and beliefs or local culture are sub0ect to closure.-? The Emirati girls and 'omen have made a significant !rogress at all levels of education es!ecially at the tertiary level. 7y the year &66: the literacy rates for UAE 'omen and men 'ere res!ectively ;1B and DAB.:

Higher education in UAE

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#ince the establishing of the formal education system in UAE in early :6=s( a lot of efforts 'ere !ut into setting u! a diversified system of higher education. Eith the basic educational infrastructure set in !lace( the government focused on ensuring that the young students 'ill be ready to confront the challenges of the future( by the creation of enough 0obs for the ne'ly graduated students and the emirati+ation of the 'or*force in the !ublic and !rivate sectors 'here UAE citi+ens accounted for a limited fraction of the total. Higher education institutions include both !ublic and !rivate universities and colleges( 'hich are under the authority of the 5inistry of Higher Education and #cientific 1esearch. The 5.HE#1 administers the higher education system through the )ommission for Academic Accreditation >)AA@ res!onsible for licensing and accrediting higher education institutions and !rograms.D Each institution is obliged to observe the standards set by the )AA. rocedure for obtaining a license and an accreditation is com!leted by submission of re<uired documentation and on site visit of the e/!erienced e/!erts. All of the above mentioned re<uirements are not a!!licable to the institutions o!erating inside the free-+one in the UAE( nevertheless( most of them are submitting the necessary documentation to )AA.; ublic universities are o!en( 'ith some e/ce!tions( to UAE nationals( 'hereas the !rivate universities and colleges licensed by )AA are o!en to both national and international students. English language is the !rimary teaching language at !ublic and !rivate universities( but the students of United Arab Emirates University >UAEU@ and Fayed University should be fluent in both English and Arabic. The UAE can be !roud of its university a!!lication ratio( 'hich is considered to be one of the 'orld=s highest. ;9B of all females and D6 B of all males 'ho are studying in the last year of secondary school a!!ly for admission to the tertiary-level institution in the UAE or continue their education abroad.16 Universities and colleges There are 1& !ublic( !rivate and federal universities and more than ?6 colleges all over the UAE. The first and the most !restigious national institution of higher education is the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. Established in 1;:? by the decree of #hai*h Fayed 7in #ultan Al 8ahyan >the resident of the UAE and the 1uler of Abu 3habi@( admitted first students in the academic year 1;::G1;:D. The university is offering over seventy bachelor( master and h3 courses on nine faculties. 8umber of students enrolled has increase from 96& in years 1;::G1;:D to 1A(:A1 in &66?G&66:.11 #econd most !restigious national institution of higher education is the Fayed University >FU@( established in 1;;D by the %ederal Covernment 'ith the aim of educating national 'omen. FU has t'o cam!uses( one in Abu 3habi and one in 3ubai( both 'ith similar academic !rogram and under one administration. "ately follo'ing the success of the Abu 3habi )am!us e/!eriment( FU authorities decided to enroll &66 male students into 3ubai cam!us. FU has five colleges and se!arate male female cam!uses in 3ubai and Abu 3habi. Total enrollment figures sho' more than 3666 girls and more than ?66 men registered.1&
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The Higher )olleges of Technology( the remaining federal educational institution( 'ere established in 1;DD( in order to !romote the technical culture and modern technology to the young generation of the UAE 8ationals. They are offering over ;6 di!loma( advanced di!loma( bachelor and master degree !rograms in 1: colleges s!read throughout the country: Abu 3habi( Al Ain( 3ubai( %u0e0rah( 5adinat Fayed( 1as Al Hhaimah( 1u'ais and #har0ah. Actual total enrolment is 1D(666 students and the number of graduates u! to date is &;(666.13 5ost of the higher education sector consists of the !rivately o'ned education institutions( 'hich are offering a 'ide range of the studying o!!ortunities in the international environment. .ut of the 1& universities licensed to o!erate in the UAE there is a number of internationally reno'ned entities li*e Tufts University and Ceorge 5ason University in 1as Al Hhaimah( 5ichigan #tate University and 1ochester Institute of Technology in 3ubai( 8e' Ior* University and #orbonne=s cam!uses in Abu 3habi( Heriot-Eatt University in 3ubai( University of Eollongong and 5anchester 7usiness #chool in 3ubai( alongside the number of other international colleges. ublic and !rivate universities and colleges %rom the o'nershi! !oint of vie' there are t'o !ublic and fedral >state o'ned@ universities( that is United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain and Fayed University in Abu 3habiG 3ubai. The remaining number of universities and colleges are !rivately o'ned 'ith the e/ce!tion of H)T( 'hich is !rivately o'ned but at the same time is classified as a federal institution. "evels of education The universities and colleges throughout the UAE offer a distinctive range of educational !ossibilities at all levels: di!loma( advanced di!loma( higher di!loma( bachelor( master and doctorate. The education focuses mostly on art and human sciences( although sub0ects li*e science( business( engineering and com!uters are becoming more and more !o!ular among local students( both female and male. #tudents and admissions The 5inistry of Higher Education and #cientific 1esearch has set u! certain basic rules regarding the admission of students to the !ublic and !rivate universities and colleges throughout the country leaving for some of the universities >federal@ right to amend the admission !rocedure. The standard !rocedure is to submit the Higher #econdary )ertificate or e<uivalent for non-government syllabus inside UAE >7ritish( American( Indian( a*istani( Iranian( 1ussian@ 'ith the a!!ro!riate average from :6B u! to D6 B. The com!ulsory is a standardi+ed English language e/amination T.E%"GI"ET#. All re<uired certificates have to be attested by the 5inistry of Education. Universities and colleges may re<uest students to !ass an entry e/am and intervie's 'ith the faculties staff. As an e/am!le at Fayed University a!!licants 'ho attended schools based on the UAE curriculum need to !resent C#") 'ith minimum :6B in academic sub0ects. Those 'ith international curriculum have to !roduce a C##EGIC)#E at advanced level 'ith minimum grade ) or an I7 3i!loma 'ith successful five sub0ects.1A In general terms the !riority at the admission level is given to UAE citi+ens >disregarding the fact 'eather it is a !ublic or !rivate
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entity@( then to C)) nationals >!ublic universities@ 'ith other nationalities to follo'. ublic and federal universities are free for UAE nationals but they can also acce!t a limited number of fee !aying foreign students >around DB seats reserved for C)) nationals and around :B for other foreigners@.19 Tuition fees de!end on the study !rogram and are individually fi/ed. They vary significantly from as lo' as &6(666 AE31? to an e/tremely high &36(666 AE3 >7oston University 3ental #chool@.The average tuition fee is e<ual to 96(666 AE3 !er year.1: UAE national students admitted to the !rivate universities and colleges can be granted a governmentG!rivate sector scholarshi!s to cover the tuition e/!enses. International students can study these days at a !ublic and federal Universities as a !aying fees students. The fees are D9(666 AE3 at UAEU and :9(666 at FU . According to the UAE 8ational 7ureau of #tatistics( the &66D census has sho'n the follo'ing data: 8umber of students: 8ational- %emale: ;A;;( 5ale: ;93:J 8on-8ational- %emale: 1A9D9( 5ale: 13;:9J 8umber of graduates: 8ational- %emale: 1A??( 5ale: 13;DJ 8on8ational- %emale: 36?;( 5ale: &&96. 1D %aculty staff Universities and colleges in UAE have on their !ayroll a multinational and gender diversified faculty staff. According to 87# figures from the year &66; the number of teachers 'as: 8ational- %emale: ?( 5ale: &3J 8on-8ational- %emale: :1;( 5ale:1::A. The H)T em!loys in its 1: colleges the staff from more than fifty countries from all over the 'orld. The ma0ority of the faculty staff came from Arab countries li*e Egy!t( #yria( Kordan( "ebanon. The !rivate universities( colleges and foreign universities cam!uses in !articular( em!loy a lot of 'estern academics or at least 'estern educated teachers. International faculty and staff are usually offered the e/!atriate !ac*ages 'hich include : ta/ free salary > there is no income and cor!orate ta/ in UAE @ (!aid accommodation de!ending on the family status( relocation fees( free health insurance (annual leave travel and end of service contract bonus> usually one or t'o year salary @.The bonus is !aid because there is no !ension system in the UAE > at least not a!!licable to e/!atriate em!loyees @. Higher education for 'omen in the UAE Than*s to the significant financial s!ending of the UAE federal government >1(?B of C3 1;@ on education( the country has the highest female to male university enrollment ration 'orld'ide. Although( the government did not introduce lately any legal changes regarding an access of Emirati 'omen to different levels of education( it stays free for UAE citi+ens and is com!ulsory for boys and girls until they reach the age of 11. In most of the academic institutions( 'ith omission of fe' !rivate ones( it is the 5.HE#1 'ho is res!onsible for the !rovision of the te/tboo*s and the curriculum. Those universities and colleges are segregated according to the gender( 'hat is affecting the education <uality and is limiting the variety of lectures available for 'omen students. In &66A the ma0ority >?9B@ of the all higher education students 'ere 'omen( 'ho has chosen mainly humanities and social sciences as their study sub0ects. .ne has to note that girls a!!lying to the !ublic and federal universities in UAE usually have to !roduce higher entry notes > )E A @ com!ared to 'hat is re<uired from boys. The increased number of 'omen students at UAE universities does not mean that the !attern
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of sub0ect choices changed. It results in ,femini+ation- of the !articular fields of study( es!ecially as the girls are discouraged to ta*e u! technical and science studies in other emirates then 3ubai and Abu 3habi. The !rimary e/!lanation of a student ration im!arity >men to 'omen@ is that in common understanding 'omen are not under the heavy burden of bringing a revenue home( therefore they can s!end more time on com!leting degrees and to study further.&6 At the University of #har0ah in &66?( 96 !ercent of the students admitted and :1 !ercent of graduates 'ere 'omen.&1 Available statistics from the class of &66: at UAE University sho'ed that :A !ercent of those admitted and :; !ercent of graduates 'ere 'omen.&& The dis!arity trend may result in the devaluation of degrees from social and human sciences and to contribute to the !rocess of gender discrimination at the !lace of 'or*. Islamic influence on 'omen education Throughout the history of the 5iddle East the education of girls and boys 'as under the heavy influence of the religion. The !redominant regional religion- Islam indicates a learning as an obligation of faith and <uite often 'as offering a su!!ort in !ursuing the educational needs by 'omen and girls. 5uslim 'omen in the 5iddle East 'ere ta*ing classes and continue to study in many different ty!es of schools and colleges starting 'ith the traditional Islamic schools (in !ublic schools( very often government s!onsored (in !rivate organi+ations and in overseas Universities and colleges. 8onetheless( the historical conte/t( local customs and strong religious beliefs had its o'n im!act on the girls and 'omen fields of study and enrollment !ractices. The influence of Islam( clearly seen far beyond the educational issues( creates the a!!ro!riate standards 'hen it comes to all *inds of economic activities( social and !olitical !ro0ects in the region. The !ro!er understanding of the religious te/ts and follo' u! !ractices standardi+es the family norms and is hel!ing to understand the a!!ro!riate roles and activities for girls and 'omen. Although the inter!retations vary( the general !oint of vie' is in favor of domestic roles for 'omen or if 'or*ing( for a !ositions 'ithin the !ublic service >education( medicine( etc.@. The domestic res!onsibilities should not be over'helm by any other activities and may only be su!!lemented by a necessity of a formal advanced training. A call for the 'omen e/!ansion to'ards greater role in government service and !ublic leadershi! >through e/tended education as one of the !rere<uisites@ has received a very mi/ed reaction. &3.

Universities and colleges for 'omen Cender segregation is over'helmingly !resent in most of the universities and colleges in the UAE and only very fe' of them( !rivately o'ned( are co-educational. The idea behind this
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segregation is based on a conce!t of a se!arate 'omen and men cam!uses( sometimes 'ith similar curriculum and administration. The most !rominent universities in the UAE( that is United Arab Emirates University and Fayed University( have o!ened subse<uently se!arate cam!uses for 'omen >UAEU@ and men >FU- 'hich 'as originally established as a educational institution for national 'omen only@. 8evertheless( there are also 'omen-only colleges li*e the H)T Eomen colleges in Abu 3habi( Al Ain( 3ubai( %u0eirah( 5adinat Fayed( 1as Al Hhaimah( 1u'ais( #har0ah and the most reno'n one 3ubai 5edical )ollege. Each year around A66 girls are a!!lying for admission to 35)( 'hich can offer ?6 !laces only. An Emirati education consultant( %atima Abdullah( said that ,There has been a lot of research on the benefits of single-se/ education for both men and 'omen. It removes negative stereoty!es( 'hich allo's 'omen to e/cel. It !rovides a safe environment for 'omen( and the families feel better.-&A #tudying in all female environment 'ould to ease the transition to the future !lace of 'or*. .ne of the ma0or goals of the 35) is to educate lady doctors 'ho !ossessed of Islamic morals and a dee! *no'ledge of Islamic tenets !articular to 'omen. 5oreover( there is a high demand for <ualified 5uslim lady doctor to treat 'omen !atients in UAE. The faculty staff in 'omen colleges is multinational( including both male and female teachers( ho'ever male lecturers are !referred by the 'omen students. ur!ose( vision and !ost-graduate careers There are multi!le goals 'hich should be achieved by advocating the 'omen to e/tend their formal education into the university level. 7y creating the friendly environment at the college( 'omen are able to broaden their hori+ons( focus on intellect culture and science. It also allo's them to dee!en Islamic identity. Eomen education enables the more !rofound utili+ation of natural resources li*e !eo!le( economics and heritage. They can reali+e the as!iration of the society( dee!en social ambitions and consolidate the structural foundation. In order to increase the 'omen interest in university career( the government has introduced an incentive !rogram( 'hich 'as meant to increase the 0ob o!!ortunities for Emirati 'omen 'ho account for A;B of the total number of UAE nationals.&9 The government of UAE decided to introduce a s!ecial social !rogram called ,Emirati+ation-( 'hich 'as to encourage nationals to ta*e em!loyment in the !rivate sector in order to lo'er the reliance on foreign labor. The main idea behind the !rogram is to introduce the <uota system demanding from the !rivate sector com!anies to em!loy A-9B of nationals every year. In order to com!ly 'ith the ne' regulations( !rivate sector has begun to hire young national 'omen to 'or* as !ublic relations officers( office cler*s and human resource staff. Quite often 'omen are hired strictly to satisfy the regulations( and many Emirati 'omen have com!lained of difficulty in advancing beyond entry-level !ositions. That is 'hy( for young and determined UAE national 'omen the !rogram is not good enough to fulfill their ambitions&?..n the other hand 'omen still ran* em!loyee benefits and 0ob security as the most im!ortant issues in consideration of a career and many surveys sho' that of female graduates from UAE universitiesGcolleges 'ho !lan to 0oin a 'or*force > almost 166B of them @ only 16B indicated the 'illingness to 0oin the !rivate sector !rimarily because the government 'ould give better benefits (0ob security and shorter 'or*ing hours. )onclusion
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The develo!ment of the education sector in the UAE can be characteri+ed as sho'ing continued ra!id gro'th in education !rovision and choice for students in the country along 'ith a !ublic !olicy commitment to attem!t to Emirati+e the teaching and education sectors. Education in the UAE as !art of government !olicy( is undergoing a careful ree/amination in order to im!rove its efficiency( effectiveness and ado!tability to ra!idly changing global conditions . The develo!ment strategy regarding the educational sector relies on ministerial !rogram ,Education &6&6-( 'hich concentrates on introducing a ne' English language syllabus and im!roving English language s*ills at all levels of education. The consecutive five-year !lans are to rebuild the educational sector in UAE into an IT strong and mighty one.

7ibliogra!hy: 7roo*( 3iane( 8a!ier( 3aniel in the boo* 4Higher education ( olicy and the global com!etition-( algrave 5acmillan( &616 !!. 119-1&:

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Helly( #an0a( 4Eomen=s rights in the 5iddle East and 8orth Africa-( 8I %reedom House( 1o'man$"ittlefield( &616 8a+ri( #ameena( Trom!!ert( "eigh( 4Eomen=s right in the 5iddle East and 8orth Africa-( 1o'land$"ittlefield ublishers Inc.( &669 ortnoi( "aura( 1ust( 2ol 3.( 4Higher education ( olicy and the global com!etition-( algrave 5acmillan( &616 Eebsites: %acts and figures University of #har0ah '''.shar0ah.ac.ae %atima Abdullah '''.thenational.ae Clobal Arab 8et'or* '''.globalarabnet'or*.com H)T '''.hct.ac.ae htt!:GGdata.un.orgG3ata.as!/MdLU8E#).$fLseries:NC3 O%#C.2 htt!:GG'''.ans'ers.comGto!icGgender-and-educationPi/++1EEgc?luh htt!:GG'''.dubaifa<s.comGuniversities-dubai.!h! International Association of UniversitiesGU8E#). '''.uaeinteract.com-education 5EE3 1e!ort &616 '''.meed.com 5inistry of Education '''.moe.gov.ae 8ational 7ureau of #tatistics '''.uaestatistics.gov.ae UAE: A country study. %ederal 1esearch 3ivision &66A UAEU %acts and figures re!ort &66D United Arab Emirates University '''.uaeu.ac.ae '''.uaeinteract.comGeducation '''.'i*i!edia.org Fayed University '''.+u.ac.ae

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