Global Development

Case Studies

Two Presidents of Colleges, Coen Free of Koning Willem I College and Tayeb Kamali - Vice Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology in United Arab Emirates, presented two case studies of their colleges and systems.

These two studies are included because they give a more in-depth perspective of how their colleges have responded to Technical Education and workforce training in special and quite specific ways. Readers of this Global Survey should find these more in-depth descriptions of their colleges of some value.

Evolution of Technical Education and Training in the UAE

A case study of the Higher Colleges of Technology

Dr. Tayeb Kamali

Vice Chancellor, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE

Chapter Outline:

1. 
   Introduction and Background
   
2. 
   The Mandate, the Vision and Mission
   
3. 
   Formative years: Balancing Quality with Demand (1988-1994)
   
4. 
   Designing Programs: Locally relevant & Internationally Benchmarked
   
5. 
   Second phase: Mass provider of technician training (1995-2002)
   
6. 
   Corporate sponsored training programs: CERT (1996-Present)
   
7. 
   lnnovations in teaching and learning
   
8. 
   Outcomes-based HCT Learning Model
   
9. 
   Evolution of Quality Assurance model
   
10. 
    Future challenges and solutions
    

Introduction and Background

The discovery and exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the Arabian Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, (what is now) the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in the 1960's significantly impacted these societies over a very short period of time.

In these hitherto thinly-populated and undeveloped regions, the sudden influx of revenues presented the rulers with unprecedented opportunity to focus on developing physical infrastructures at a dramatic pace. Within two decades, amazing results were achieved in construction and infrastructure development projects.
From the mid 1960's to the mid 1980's, developments in housing, roads, schools, hospitals and telecommunication networks to the standards of the developed world were made possible with the help of multinational companies and a great influx of expatriate labor supported by technical and professional advisors. It was during this period that particular emphasis was placed on the building of a large network of kindergarten to grade 12 schools to ensure that every national child was given free and easy access to basic education.

Incentives were given to all national families to increase family size in order to meet the ever-expanding human resource needs in these increasingly affluent economies. Traditional universities were established to help provide the administrative and managerial leaders needed to assume key and leading government and public sector positions. These positions were initially held by expatriates who assisted in this massive undertaking. Economic growth certainly meant that manpower needs continued to outstrip the supply of trained nationals. The social incentives put in place to increase the national population began to show results during the 1980's with strong demographic growth witnessed in the number of school-aged national children as the number of students in primary schools tripled from 1980 to 1995 and the number of secondary school students increased from 62,000 in 1985 to 160,000 in 1995.

GCC planners began to focus their attention on the increasing numbers of school leavers and the type of occupations that would be available to them in the coming decades when they entered the workforce. Many economic and HR statistical indicators pointed these planners toward conclusions similar to the findings of one of the region's leading researchers (2): "They (employers) complain that our schools are incapable of producing an adequate supply of trained and technically qualified workers. The acute shortage of indigenous workers is both quantitative and qualitative.. GCC Countries have to strike a balance between the need to prepare professionals such as engineers, doctors and lawyers, and the need for middle-level workers such as technicians and semi-skilled workers. The acute shortage of local technicians and skilled workers should drive GCC governments to shift their emphasis from Universities to lower-cost training colleges and polytechnics in order to enhance their capabilities of providing better quality training for larger numbers."

The Mandate, The Vision, The Mission

In the words of the Founding President of UAE, the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, "Education is a lantern that lights your way in a dark alley.” Sheikh Zayed led the nation during an era that saw the UAE transform itself from a small cluster of emirates to one of the most modern countries in the world. A visionary, he saw his dream of a unified nation materialize during his lifetime. Throughout his presidency the country

witnessed drastic changes, a magical metamorphosis from the pre-oil days to unparalleled development. He not only led the country into the 21st century but also put the UAE on the world map.
In 1987, Sheikh Zayed gave a clear mandate to the Chancellor of the UAE University, His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan to establish a system of technical institutions throughout the country to train and develop young UAE nationals in technical specializations.
Sheikh Nahayan set the vision for a world class higher educational institution that would be the lead provider of tertiary education in the country and would effectively meet the quantitative and qualitative needs for the national

workforce and would soon become the best-in-class institution in the region at large.

The new, federally-funded system was named The Higher Colleges of Technology. It became known as the HCT and its mission statement effectively included the President's mandate and the Chancellor's vision. To articulate his vision, Sheikh Nahayan crafted the HCT mission statement in 1988 which has stood the test of time during the rapid development of the HCT and the UAE over these past 18 years: "The Higher Colleges of Technology are dedicated to the delivery of technical and professional programs of the highest quality to the students, within the context of sincere respect for all beliefs and values. Graduates of the colleges will have the linguistic ability to function effectively in an international environment; the technical skills to operate in an increasingly complex technological world; the intellectual capacity to adapt to constant change; and the leadership potential to make the fullest possible contribution to the development of the community for the good of all its people."
Sheikh Nahayan's visionary leadership, dedication and untiring efforts have been the cornerstones in translating this vision into measurable outcomes and success. From the outset, it was his firm belief that the strong foundation to such a world-class institution shall be uncompromising attention to quality, integrity and continual improvement of the teaching - learning process. As noted in the mission statement, he has also been consistently insistent on preparing graduates to work effectively in an international environment, thus emphasizing on international accreditation and benchmarking of programs and processes.
As the impending deadline set by the President demanded an ambitious timeline, implementation had to precede the governmental decrees and processes necessary to formally set up this federal institution with its own budget and award-granting status.
Sheikh Nahayan, as the Chancellor of this new institution, initiated a 'fast-track' implementation to convert this Presidential vision into the practical reality of 'state-of-the-art' campuses offering career-oriented programs with

students enrolled by year end. A select number of technical programs, curriculum details and infrastructure were expeditiously put in place with the assistance of international experts.

As a direct interpretation of its mission, HCT embarked on technical education that

• 
  Was relevant to the needs of local government, business and industry
  

• 
  Prepared graduates for a globally competitive marketplace with English as the language of instruction in programs that were benchmarked against, and accredited by, international best practices.
  

• 
  Developed graduates with holistic aptitudes and core competencies that were sought after by all top industries irrespective of specific vocational skills.
  

• 
  Continued to seek feedback from local industry through a system of Program Advisory Committees and acted to adjust program offerings and content so that HCT graduates would be work-ready immediately upon graduation.
  
• 
  Equipped the graduates with life-long learning skills and technology prowess so they would be able to upgrade their skills throughout their careers.