Dubai - International House Dubai launched its new brand identity today and revealed that the company previously known as Knowledge Network (KNET) has big plans for the advancement of education and development in the UAE.
Knowledge Network, an extremely successful educational and development organization, focused on specific training and competency-based industry programmes, both accredited and non-accredited.
The demand for professional accredited courses is on the rise in Dubai and has been for the last few years. In order to grow and be able to cater to this demand, it was essential for KNET to partner with an international organization that had strict benchmarks in educational and development sectors. The International House World Organisation (IHWO)was the natural choice.
The idea behind merging KNET with IH Dubai is to launch a stronger entity that can now provide lifelong learning and vocational/practical courses to a greater cross section of the UAE community. IH Dubai was established with this in mind with emphasis on providing a practical training platform for people wanting to progress along their professional career path.
Under the new brand, IH Dubai will take a more holistic approach to development. The teacher training and the language courses (from beginner to proficiency levels) will still be offered, but they have added accredited Marketing, HR and Accounting to the roster of courses now available at IH Dubai. They will also provide several soft skills courses that are vital for office etiquette and, of course, the National Development courses that enable UAE nationals to successfully enter the workforce and assist organizations with their Emiratisation plans.
IHWO is one of the largest and oldest language school networks in the world. Founded in 1953, they now have over 150 affiliated private language schools in 50 countries, spanning every continent.
Quality is at the core of everything they do. Only schools that meet their exceptional quality standards are allowed to use the International House brand.
They have pioneered Teacher Training programmes for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and their courses and centers remain some of the most reputed in the industry.
IH teachers also write course books; in fact, many of the books used today by English language teachers were written by IH experts. These include the very well-known series: Headway, New Cutting Edge, and Natural Grammar.
Today IH Schools are synonymous with teacher and language training excellence. They are the first port of call for anybody wanting to either take up a teaching career or develop communicative competence.
Statistics prove that English is the 3rd most popular language on Earth, after Chinese and Spanish and that an estimated 508 million people speak the language and this number is increasing. English is the official language in 83 countries/regions and is spoken in 105 other countries apart from England. IH is making a significant contribution to global communications by teaching English, today's international language, to over 50,000 people worldwide.
However IH Dubai has taken the original IHWO recipe a step further and decided to offer more courses to satisfy the enormous demand for professional, practical courses that offer massive returns. Anyone wishing to improve their career path and take a step up the proverbial ladder must develop their skills. Whether you are a house wife wanting to get back into working or you are a professional unable to get that promotion you always wanted, IH Dubai focus on how to enhance your career goals and develop your practical skills through courses that give you that elusive "on the job" knowhow that you cannot find in any book, course or training center in the UAE. They provide access to a network of international, regional and local organisations, such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
Clarifying the reasons behind choosing IH, the owner, Mr. Abdulqader Al Khaja confirmed that, "Dubai is a melting pot of different cultures and nationalities. We believe that learning and teaching languages is conducive to a more harmonious multi layered and cultured society. In addition, IH Dubai being a center for development excellence was best suited to being in Dubai as it represents its own center of excellence, not only for the UAE but for the GCC as a whole."
Mr. Khaja continued that, "in terms of why IH?, it was clear to us that we needed a mechanism to ensure the highest quality standards which would allow our learners the confidence in the knowledge that their qualification meets international standards and benchmarks. IHWO was the right partner to allow us to do this and that is why we merged KNET with IH and created IH Dubai; and the brand is being launched before you today".
We asked IH Dubai's Director, Ms. Clair Hattle about the reasons why IH Dubai decided to focus on National Development as one of their courses; she commented on this point stating that, "The National Development course was a course that we ran at KNET and we brought it into IH Dubai and enhanced it. Over the last three decades the UAE has witnessed tremendous advances in social, economic and technological fields. However; despite all the advances, the country is now experiencing an unemployment problem among its increasing young population. Our training and education frameworks are based on competency models adapted to meet the conditions of the local market. They include a rigorous assessment process that is used to pinpoint skill, knowledge and attitude gaps precisely. The training programmes are highly practical, work-related and skills focused".
Hattle added that, "these programmes are designed to prepare UAE graduates and school leavers for entry into a variety of occupational sectors. Particular emphasis is given to the development of "Core and Behavioural Competencies". Technical competencies are also developed and work experience is an integral part of the programme".
With the advent of any new brand to the market there is always a website that follows and IH Dubai chose to launch their new website during the press conference in the presence of all the members of the media. The website was launched through a large multi touch screen by Mr. Khaja with some assistance from the media and can be visited at www.ihdubai.com .
For further media enquiries:
Mazen Thabet
Director: Corporate Communications.
t: +9714- 4579495
m: +971-5595 64133
mazen@commfirmworld.com
© Press Release 2012
