ABU DHABI // The successful Public Private Partnership project launched by the Abu Dhabi Education Council five years ago may be nearing its end with the roll-out of the Government's New School Model.
PPP was designed to lay foundations for the New School Model (NSM), which was introduced in the lower grades last year, and which is designed to boost education standards.
The partnership was established on a three-year contract basis, where private operators would help the school achieve standardised goals to improve students performance and align teaching practices to international methods.
Since the deal was agreed in 2006 to allow some public schools to be managed by private sector groups, the PPP scheme has achieved successes combating demotivation among students, poor attendance, high dropout rates and uninspired teaching.
But with the roll-out of the NSM having begun, the question remains as to what will happen to those employed as part of the PPP plan.
"PPP is a tool to transfer knowledge and best practice to local principals and not a management in itself," said Dr Mugheer al Khaili, director general of Adec. "This project was meant for a finite period."
The authority said it will be announcing details about the PPP project's future soon.
Soon after the formation of Abu Dhabi's independent education authority, nine private operators signed agreements with Adec to turn around failing schools.
A team of experts from the education management companies have worked alongside local educators in 176 public schools and extended learning resources, while Adec has been responsible for providing monetary support for the programme.
The NSM lays out standards for all public schools and aims to equip students with bilingual skills and prepare them for university and careers. Adec began employing its own native English speakers as part of the model to assist local staff.
The impending conclusion of PPP will have financial implications: expatriate teachers with the PPP operators said it was unclear if they were still required in the schools and the authority needed to make a quick decision to avoid losing experts.
"Adec needs expatriate teachers as part of their own model, too," said a teacher who works with Nord Anglia."So instead of going through the recruitment process again, the PPP teachers can be absorbed," said the teacher who did not wish to be named.
"But Adec has not yet decided, so because of the job uncertainty many of them have already decided to leave."
Dr Jan Wilson, director of schools at Taaleem-EdisonLearning (TEL), which operates in four public schools, said their job was to build capacity and they always knew that at the end of three years they might be asked to withdraw their support.
"In the first year we had to lead them, now we are walking by their side while they take on the leadership role, and towards the end of the project we will stand behind and guide them."
Within a year of the handover, the TEL team brought down the failure rates in Maths from 90 per cent to 50 per cent and introduced group project work for more practical learning at Al Taalea school.
A school monitoring report by Adec stated "student behaviour, attendance and punctuality to lessons have improved as a result of the push on making the learning environment more vibrant and inviting".
Similar results have been noted by Cognition, a management company from New Zealand, which works in 26 public schools.
"From 2007, we have seen enhanced leadership, world class teaching practice and a more engaged community," said Sally Smart, middle head chief executive of Cognition.
Ms Smart said even beyond the end of the programme, they would try to be part of the upcoming reforms in the Emirates.
"We are a dynamic company, so we feel we have a lot to offer and will be looking forward to being a part the country's developments."
aahmed@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
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Raghida, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-2 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,200m
Winner: Basmah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Liwa Oasis Group 2 (PA) Dh300,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: SS Jalmod, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Trolius, Ryan Powell, Simon Crisford
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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.”
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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
