DUBAI // Bilingual learning, a focus on health and wellbeing and greater parental involvement are part of reforms on how physical and health education is taught in government-run schools.
Courses in fitness, health and wellbeing, diet and nutrition, and physiology have been introduced by the Ministry of Education to promote more individual responsibility among Emirati pupils.
“It aims to empower students with the health and physical literacy skills to ensure a future generation of healthy, motivated, highly educated citizens,” said Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education.
The new curriculum will be taught to all age groups, from kindergarten to Grade 12.
A key aim is to raise awareness of various health indicators, such as body mass index, and how they can be used to improve health and reduce healthcare costs.
The curriculum is split into three cycles. The main focus of Cycle 1 is fundamental movement skills and development of competent communication skills. Cycles 2 and 3 build on that with higher-level sport science through the study of biomechanics and a range of sport and activities.
An English-language component is designed to help pupils prepare for reading and understanding nutritional information on products, which are usually in English.
As part of the initiative, parents will also be encouraged to form healthier lifestyle choices and habits. “Parental engagement is important,” said former athlete Danielle Mincey White who is managing director of Athletic Mindset Consulting.
“Students who disliked physical education because of the old methods had no desire to participate in sport activities, so parents didn’t look for ways to change students’ perspectives.
“Teaching the children about healthier options and providing avenues to exercise those options will lead to lower childhood obesity and incidences of obesity-related diseases.”
More than 500 teachers took part in workshops to learn how to facilitate the programme.
“In the light of the many illnesses arising related to lifestyle choices, there has never been more need for physical education (PE) than now,” said teacher Nura Arabi. “It is recommended pupils get 150 minutes of PE a week at primary level and 225 minutes at secondary level.” Some UAE schools do not provide this amount.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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