Education should evolve with job market

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The region's education system must be reformed to address changes in the job market caused by evolving economic dynamics, say HR and education experts.

"GCC countries have extremely young populations with a larger percentage of people under the age of 18 than elsewhere," Mirna Zeid, Head of Research Department at TalentRepublic.net, told Emirates Business.

This underlines the critical role of the education sector in ensuring such an overwhelming number of people are successfully integrated into the job market, preventing widespread unemployment in the future.

"Sadly one of the biggest inhibiting factors that continues to derail the development of the Middle East and North Africa region's job market has been the failure to adopt education programmes that cater to the current needs of the society,"?said Zeid. "It is critically important for academic institutions to offer more flexible undergraduate and postgraduate programmes that satisfy the evolving needs of the job market."

Additionally, she said, stakeholders need to invest in research to identify specific professions that are in demand. This will help develop academic programmes that are in tune with the changing economic situation.

Patrick Luby, Managing Director of Manpower Middle East, said demand has changed in recent times.

"Over the past five years the construction and real estate industries have dominated the region in terms of skill requirements. However, due to the downturn, in some markets this has changed dramatically. We are increasingly seeing a move towards service-based and electronic commerce industries," he said. "There is now a slow and steady rise in the Dubai market. Abu Dhabi is extremely upbeat in terms of new projects and, therefore, new opportunities and this seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future. We are seeing an increase across all sectors, but those that are really expanding are finance, banking and healthcare as well as general sales."

Zeid said several factors have led to changes in the UAE's job market, including the emiratisation drive, which has modified all aspects of the job market.

"But there are still vacancies for professionals in industries such as medicine, pharmaceuticals, education and the media, for example. But if you do want a job in the UAE, then you have to be prepared for the competition to be stiff, job security to be perhaps less than elsewhere, and your search for the right job to be harder than it was a year ago," she said.

TalentRepublic.net says while the region has spent more per capita on education compared to others - allocating five per cent of GDP and up to 20 per cent of government expenditure - the majority of students and graduates remain inadequately equipped to be competitive in the job market. The massive expenditure on education, which helped increase primary education enrolment threefold and higher education enrolment up to fivefold between 1970 and 2003, has not had a major impact on the economy, particularly in terms of creating gainful employment opportunities in an increasingly globalised landscape.

As a result, a significant percentage of university graduates from several Arab and Middle East academic institutions face high unemployment rates. A college degree is no longer the sure ticket to employment it was in the past.

"One of the cornerstones of economic progress is a good education system and, therefore, governments across the GCC are making reforms a priority," said Luby. "This is definitely good news for the economy, but it is important to make sure the education provided by the government runs in line with the needs of business and the economy so people learn the right type of skills, both academically and socially."

Zeid added: "Combined government and public sector efforts will be required to reform the regional education sector successfully. Also, government policies can be enacted to motivate educational institutions to offer a wider range of programmes that match new and evolving market requirements."

She said such reforms could include advising educational institutions and the public on the jobs that will be in demand, looking at what the schools teach and their teaching methodologies, a greater focus on the development of technical skills and the introduction of programmes on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Zeid said critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills are particularly important in a knowledge economy and in the context of a globalised society.

Asked what steps should be taken at government level, Luby said governments in the GCC should provide more information on occupational opportunities and create awareness about the realities of the job market.

"It is important to help people through the transition from education into the work place, and many governments encourage companies and agencies to provide real-world advice and guidance to students about to embark on their careers to ease the transition process,"?she said. "Offering career counselling and advice within schools and colleges is one way to encourage students to choose the right subjects."

Martin Prince, Registrar of the British University in Dubai, said: "To develop a more focused educational system it is important to encourage the various players in education to work more closely together. Education should involve students, employers, the wider public, government agencies and universities. There have been positive moves towards closer collaboration within and between these groupings, but there is room for more significant advancement in certain areas. When these groups truly and readily collaborate, we can quickly reach the point where the important longer-term perspective in higher education can be realised for the best interests of the UAE's development as a knowledge economy."

Prince said the current economic situation had tended to reinforce short-term thinking among both students and employers.

Luby said career open days, where companies and recruiters are invited to speak openly to students and help guide their choices, is also a helpful technique.

By Reena Amos Dyes

© Emirates Business 24/7 2009