Abu Dhabi needs 60,000 more school places to keep pace with demand

ABU DHABI // To meet education requirements, 60,000 private school places will need to be added in the next five years, according to the director general of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec).

Dr Amal Al Qubaisi made the comments during this week’s third annual Education Investment Forum, which brought together school owners, investors and operators, in an effort to increase investment in education.

Private schools serve more than 62 per cent of the total student population, amounting to 224,000 students, according to the 2014/2015 statistics.

Nearly a quarter of the of the student population is Emirati, and the remaining 76 per cent expatriates.

Private schools earn Dh3 billion in income, according to Adec.

“With such a large student population, the need to maintain and introduce high performing private education schools is essential,” said Hamad Al Dhaheri, executive director of Adec’s private schools and quality assurance sector.

For the 2014/2015 academic year, an additional 20,064 school seats were available for students across 14 different curriculum schools, more than double of Adec’s original target.

According to Acec, investments in private schools in the past four years rose to Dh2.439 billion, adding an extra 44 schools.

In the past three years, 34 private schools were set up with an additional 42,264 school seats to meet increasing demand.

The total number of students in Abu Dhabi is estimated at 352,000, said Dr Al Qubaisi, with demand increasing by 5 per cent.

Approximately 300 investors and school operators were present at forum, where they were given an opportunity to network and discuss opportunities.

“It is our aim to maintain the trust and respect we have earned in developing a highly skilled, highly productive workforce which is one of the seven economic priorities identified in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030,” she said.