UAE Portrait of a Nation: KHDA boss says good education and happiness go hand-in-hand

Dr Abdullah Al Karam says happy people will read, exercise, see the world differently and learn better, so happiness is key to developing this generation of children.

Dr Abdullah Al Karam believes the pursuit of happiness can be a unifying theme for humanity. Jeffrey E Biteng / The Nationa

Dr Abdullah Al Karam has been at the helm of KHDA for seven years and says the aim of education is straightforward.

DUBAI // Happiness is something that everyone strives for and can be achieved with the help of a good education, says the director-general of Dubai’s Knowledge of the Human Development Authority.

Dr Abdullah Al Karam, who has been director of the emirate’s private education regulator since its inception in 2007, says that no matter their race, religion or age, all people want to be happy.

“If you look at the education system for the past eight years, I think it’s getting marginally better,” he says. “[But] we should go back to the fundamentals of education.

“Education in Latin means to ‘bring out what’s within you’ and education today is pouring [information into the heads of children] rather than bringing out within.”

Dr Al Karam says that today’s generation is very different from the one before it, and that needs to be understood.

“In previous generations, there was so much emphasis on working hard, because that led to success and that led to happiness, but that theory is outlived for this [generation],” he says, adding that working hard is not the starting point for the latest generation as many of them are materially comfortable.

“This is not necessarily a good or bad thing, it’s just different, and this is why today there should be a focus on what’s going to make them happy,” he says.

“If they are happy, they’re going to read, they’re going to exercise, they’re going to see the world differently. Happy people learn better. Happy people don’t call in sick. Happy people will wear whatever uniform you give them.”

Dr Al Karam also says that the diverse population of Dubai is a “treasure” and the common factor there should remain happiness.

He says that the goal is not necessarily to get an education to degree level, but to lead a successful, happy and healthy life.

Dr Al Karam does not have any children but he says he has 255,208 children in schools across Dubai.

He believes that the KHDA has built a trusting educational community and the regulator enjoys credibility with the public.

“We want to build on this credibility to make more of an impact,” he says. “The education system has been doing a good job, but I would like us to go back to the fundamentals of education.

“We need to educate more hearts, not just brains. How do we become compassionate and empathetic? This is what I also want to see in the future of education.”

He said that the rate of change in any organisation has to be faster than that of its surroundings, or else “it’s the beginning of the end”.

Dr Al Karam says a person should always strive to make the world better for future generations, adding that no one knows whether those efforts will pose new challenges.

“People always ask me, ‘how do you know [these efforts] won’t become a problem in the future way after you die?’ I tell them I don’t know but I owe it [to society] to make these efforts, hoping that future generations will be smart enough to find a solution.”