UAE will need 150 more schools by 2022

New GCC Education Report predicts growing demand for private education

The UAE will need 150 more schools by 2022 to accommodate the growing school-going population, which is expected to reach 1.5 million in the next four years, according to the GCC Education Industry Report unveiled yesterday.

Published by Dubai-based research firm Alpen Capital, the report provides an outlook of the GCC Education sector until 2022 covering pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational segments across all GCC nations.

According to the study, student enrolment in the country is set to grow at 3.4 per cent, from 1.3 million to an estimated 1.5 million.

The study, carried out over the last two years, says that the UAE continues to lead the region in terms of quality of education supported by the government’s efforts to develop a diversified knowledge-based economy.

The government’s continuous focus on education is reflected in the budget allocation for 2018, which reached Dh10.4 billion, approximately 20.2 per cent of its total expenditure, ranking the UAE higher in comparison to other developed nations such as the UK and Germany.

The report profiles some of the prominent education providers in the region and analyses the growth drivers, trends and challenges faced by the sector.

“The GCC education sector is continuing to grow on account of a rising population coupled with the growing preference for private education. Despite a slowdown in economic growth, regional governments have continued to allocate sizeable portions of their budgets to the education sector,” said Sameena Ahmad, Managing Director, Alpen Capital (ME) Limited.

The report, published every two years, said the UAE is among the leading providers of education services in the GCC. The private education sector has evolved in the country with the influx of international institutions, with a greater demand for various curricula.