More students open to graduation in UAE
Najah Abu Dhabi has 133 exhibitors and is expected to receive 16,000 visitors
More and more people are considering UAEbased universities for their graduate education, encouraged by the diversity of new degrees on offer and by the opportunity to work and study at the same time.
Najah Abu Dhabi began yesterday, and is expected to see more than 16,000 visitors by the time it wraps up tomorrow. There are 133 exhibitors, including UAE-based colleges and universities, as well as pavilions for foreign institutions from Japan, the UK, US and Northern Ireland.
“A growing number of people in the UAE, including working professionals, are pursuing graduate studies, often in fields different from the ones they studied as undergraduates,” said Alaa Hassan, registrar at the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.
Dr Hanan Al Suwaidi, assistant professor at the College of Medicine at Mohammad Bin Rashid University, said: “The university is barely four years old, but we have a brand new Masters in Biomedical Sciences this year, and two new Masters in specialist nursing fields — paediatrics and cardiology — starting in 2020. There is a lot more choice for graduate students today.”
Visitors who spoke to Gulf News said they had a variety of reasons for looking into the country’s education opportunities. “I work offshore, and I want to make sure that I am constantly expanding my breadth of knowledge. So I am looking for a health management degree that I can complete online,” said Faisal Eisa, a 29-year-old Emirati security professional.
“I would like to study medicine, and am just beginning to look at institutions that would let me pursue this line of study while staying close to my family,” said Hareema Hilal, a 12th grader from Pakistan.