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ADEC, Industry Experts Discuss New Strategy For Technical And Professional Education |
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Industry leaders and professionals including Lord Kenneth Baker, member of the House of Lords from the United Kingdom and former Minister of Education in the UK, the Honourable John Dawkins AO, Chairman of the Australian Qualifications Framework Council, and Peter Noonan, Director of Peter Noonan Consulting reviewed the development of the strategy and offered feedback for its effective implementation. The main areas reviewed included: closely integrating Technical and Professional Education (TaPE) with industry needs; expanding Emirati participation in TaPE; and driving excellence in the TaPE system. "Our goal is to build a strong workforce in Abu Dhabi. We have already started working towards this by implementing our 10 Year Strategic Plan that looks at transforming the education system at primary and secondary school levels. The two strategies will be aligned to ensure students are developing the skills they need from early years for future education and their careers," said H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC. "Partnering with leading companies and professionals present today assists us in integrating training solutions and developing the skills needed for a knowledge based economy. With world class skills, we will help Abu Dhabi’s students be competitive and productive in the world of work," added H.E. Dr. Al-Khaili. The Abu Dhabi Governments vision is to develop a diversified and sustainable economy. Vocational education and training programs allow students to explore unconventional industries and broaden their prospective to look at more than what are the current industry trends. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is investing in aerospace and renewable energy programs and ICT and vocational education and training programs relative to these fields are a necessary part of Abu Dhabi’s development.. Work-based training and employability skills will be integrated into every TaPE program. ADEC has joined the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT), Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), and Vocational Education Training Institute (VETI) to produce this new strategy. "We are offering students and in particular UAE Nationals alternative options to traditional schooling and through this we are helping them pursue further education. What we are really offering here is a path for life-long learning," said Dr. Saleh Al-Hashemi, Head of Technical ’&’ Professional Development at ADEC. Throughout the day, roundtable meetings consisting of local and international professionals from a variety of fields discussed approaches to creating and implementing an effective TaPE regulation and incentive system to continuously ensure quality as well as rebrand vocational institutes to promote high quality adult education and training. Discussions concluded with recommendations on the draft allowing ADEC to move forward with the next steps of finalizing its strategy.
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