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Higher Education admission rates approach world record levels in GCC states(The Middle East and North Africa Business Report (Amman, Jordan)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 7--The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are set to achieve the world's highest levels of admission rates to institutions of higher education, reveals a recent study on the GCC's public expenditure on education. According to the Dubai-based Madar Research Group, riding on high oil revenues, and recognizing the importance of upgrading regional educational systems, GCC governments have upped the expenditure on education to an approximate US$ 26 billion during 2005. Leading this trend was the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that hiked its budgetary allocation for education from 17.08 per cent in 2004 to 17.20 per cent in 2005. The country invested US$ 1.11 billion into education out of its US$ 6.5 billion annual budget during 2004. This rose proportionately in 2005, with the UAE spending US$ 1.07 billion from its reduced US$ 6.22 billion annual budget. The region's impressive progress in the education sector is the result of continuous large-scale investments in education and training of manpower made by GCC state governments, who collectively pumped 22 per cent or US$ 23 billion of the combined US$ 109 billion GCC budget in 2004 into the education sector, says the study. The demand for higher education in the GCC region is also fuelled by the increasing number of students attending public schools and the decreasing student attrition or drop-out rates. "The region's growing demand for internationally recognized undergraduate, post-graduate and career advancement courses in diverse disciplines such as banking and finance, the arts, humanities, sciences, information technology, marketing, management and tourism, augurs well for the rapid qualitative and quantitative expansion of the education sector across the GCC and the Middle East," said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director of International Conferences and Exhibitions, which organizes the region's leading annual education fair, Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX) in the UAE. The event's 18th edition, GETEX Dubai 2006 will be held from April 12 to 14 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Education. GETEX Dubai 2005 attracted over 27,000 visitors and 438 exhibitors offering a vast array of choices from 38 countries. Responding to regional needs, GETEX Dubai 2006 will focus on innovative solutions and technologies that cater to the increasingly significant segment of Education Training, Technology and Supply. The exhibition will also highlight emerging trends and methodologies in the Corporate Training and Human Resource Development sector. A separate segment dwelling on Special Needs Education is being introduced for the first time this year. Besides these key areas, GETEX Dubai 2006 will fulfil its traditional role as the most comprehensive regional platform showcasing a wider array of diverse and international options in higher education for students, parents, professionals, the academic fraternity and working persons from the UAE, the GCC states, the Indian subcontinent, Iran and other Middle East countries. Targeting over one million youth of under 18 years and two million more people in the 18 to 40 age group, the event will directly reach more than three-quarters of the UAE's five million residents. With its eye firmly on the student, the trainee and the investor in education, the event will help participants and exhibitors to gauge market demands and trends, showcase their services and network with the region's education industry. ""GETEX Dubai 2006 will be 30 per cent bigger than last year's fair. The huge demand for world-class education, the adoption of new technological equipment and solutions in online, distance and campus learning; the importance being given to training and upgrading of personnel skills by the region's competitive business organisations; and the growing interest being shown by reputed players from the international education industry in the GCC's education sector, will bring more exhibitors, participants and visitors to GETEX Dubai 2006," Godinho said. The Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX) is the largest education fair in the Middle East region. Organised by International Conferences & Exhibitions (IC&E), GETEX is held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Education and enjoys the support of Dubai Knowledge Village, the region's biggest ensemble of institutes of higher education, and the British Council in Dubai. In the 18th successive year of showing, GETEX is providing a forum to educational and training institutes from almost every region of the world. The 17th GETEX, held in April 2005 in Dubai, attracted 438 institutions from 38 countries and an audience of over 27,000 students, parents, teachers and education professionals. |