Firm claims university dropouts can be predicted

dubai — Advanced robots and drones by government entities may have stolen the spotlight at the GitexTechnology Week. However, there are also “future stars” at the exhibition, showcasing their ideas on how to improve education and health.

The Future Stars section at the exhibition includes several startup firms, including one company that can help predict future university drop outs.

The Lebanese company, called Pre Lemon, is already in talks with a few Dubai universities and schools for their product. The founder of the firm, Rami Khoury, said they take five to 15-year-old data from a university, analyse it and produce a list of current students

We would apply that information to the current student pool, allowing us to predict who is at risk of dropping out.” Rami Khoury, founder, Pre Lemon

who can potentially drop out. “There are usually three reasons why students drop out. The first one would be financial problem, then academic shortcomings and the third one would be psychological issues and mental health problems,” Khoury said. “These three issues have offices within the universities that can take care of it. But the problem is that universities can’t tell which student is going through a problem or what kind of a problem they have. With the data that we would receive from the university’s management system, we would apply that information to the current student pool, allowing us to predict who is at risk of dropping out. Then, we link that student to the right person within the university, who can help him or her with what the problem is.”

Pre Lemon also works with school students and produces a list of suitable university programmes for them