DUBAI // The vast majority of private schools in the emirate teach some form of entrepreneurship, according to a survey by the education regulator.
According to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority study, 74 per cent of schools teach the subject and most start it from Grade 6, when children are 10 and 11.
“Entrepreneurship education builds so many skills in students that they will need in their future lives, from communication to collaboration, resilience, negotiation and financial literacy,” said Kaltham Kenaid, head of research at KHDA.
“It was wonderful to listen to students’ positive stories of entrepreneurship in their schools and we hope that all students in Dubai will be able to benefit from this rich experience.”
The findings were presented at the International Council for Small Business World Conference, held at Dubai World Trade Centre on Tuesday, and highlighted some of the best practices in Dubai’s schools.
Questionnaires and interviews were conducted with school principals, teachers and pupils from across the emirate.
The research reveals how schools are teaching the topic and how they are working with community organisations to provide more opportunities to pupils.
Entrepreneurship promotes creativity, innovation and initiative, all qualities identified as vital as part of the National Innovation Strategy, and to achieve the targets set for the 2021 National Agenda.
The study also found that 72 per cent of entrepreneurial activities in schools develop pupils’ business skills; 59 per cent of schools conduct visits to local businesses as part of entrepreneurship education; and 72 per cent of entrepreneurship lessons focus on generating new ideas.
David Cluley, leader in learning for technology and the arts at Uptown School in Mirdif, believes entrepreneurship education helps to prepare children for life after school.
“We don’t teach entrepreneurship as a separate lesson, it’s more integrated into our lessons,” he said. “During our lessons we give them some guidance on what they need to do. But it’s up to them to design and develop ideas that they feel could go into the market.”
Among the projects that Grade 6 pupils at Uptown School do is design T-shirts for staff and visitors to the Dubai Crocodile Park, which is under construction. “It’s then up to them to decide on the design and promote this product,” Mr Cluley said.
He hoped pupils would be inspired to set up their own businesses when they are older and pupils agreed.
Andreas Packhausen, 15, from Denmark, said: “I’m interested in astronomy and aircraft so maybe there is something I can design that helps people with that kind of thing.
“To be a good entrepreneur you need to know what products or services people will find useful and that is the kind of thing we are taught in class.”
Belgian Samir Yousfi, 14, converted a Rubik’s Cube into a tic-tac-toe game, using 3D printers.
“The great thing is that although we are given some general direction, it’s up to us to come up with products,” he said. “This kind of learning is really important because you learn to think for yourself and come up with solutions to problems.”
Samyuktha Ramnath, 14, from India, designed and made a reusable handwriting book.
“With my book children can practise their handwriting as much as they want because the pages are laminated,” he said.
“I want to do chartered accounting and then get some experience working for a company before starting my own business.
“I can use the same principles I’ve been taught here and apply that to what I want to do.”
nhanif@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Results
2.30pm: Expo 2020 Dubai – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: Barakka, Ray Dawson (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
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The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
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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.”
West Asia Premiership
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