By the directives of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, and in response to his initiatives that aim to keep the UAE on top, especially in the global competitiveness Indicators, the UAE has made a remarkable progress in many indicators, including the Efficiency Enhancers which measures the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education systems, labor market, financial market and technological readiness, as the UAE ranked 14th globally up from 20th in the same indicator, and 21st up from 24th in the Innovation and Sophistication indicator. This came during the comments of his Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, on the results of the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum “Davos” in 2014- 2015, in which the UAE advances 7 places in the overall competitiveness of its economy within just one year, becoming the 12th most competitive nation globally.
This achievement is a result of the keenness of his Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, to implement the directives of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as his Excellency launched the initiatives and formed the necessary teams to raise the level of performance, which was positively reflected on the competitiveness indicators for the higher education affairs in the State. The UAE has recently ranked first globally with 96.6% in the “Student Movement into the State” indicator, achieving a quantum leap, after it ranked 3rd in the same indicator in 2013.
That is the outcome of the plans, mechanisms of implementation, intensive follow-up, achievement of goals, and establishment of specialized centers as per the international standards. In 2012, the Ministry established the Center for Higher Education Data & Statistics, whose main mission is to measure the performance of each institution, and build a comprehensive centralized database in order to meet the requirements of UNESCO and other national and international offices with relation to information, so that these institutions start competing with each other after ranking them and improving their results. The Center convinced UNESCO Statistics Centre to update the UAE higher education statistics and reached an agreement on definition of international students, and categorization of 5-6 year Bachelor’s programs in the category of Master’s programs as done for the European countries based on Bologna Accords, and UNESCO published the updated statistics in its publication that is regularly launched in May each year on its website and the World Bank’s website.
His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan congratulated the leadership on this honorable achievement for the UAE after it jumped to the 12th rank in the Global Competitiveness Index, stressing that this achievement is a universal testament to the position reached by the UAE, ranking the same as that of the advanced world, pointing out that achieving such remarkable numbers amid the global overcrowding is an achievement worth taking pride in, and is a motivation for us to make sure to work harder in order to achieve what is better. His Excellency clarified that ranking high in this indicator means that the UAE was able to supply the local labor market with the promising national young competencies, who have achieved remarkable scientific attainment and received advanced field training, and were able to challenge and win, so as to put the UAE among the advanced countries of the world in the fields of higher education and knowledge.
His Excellency added that the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, “Our economy is constantly evolving … Indicators of security and stability are among the best in the world… and The welfare of our citizens is our first priority,” should prompt us to teamwork in all fields, and make sacrifices for our homeland, to keep the flag flying high in all areas and at the local, regional, and global levels.
