Academic City turns down 25 universities

University applications undergo a rigorous evaluation process based on 34-point criteria set by the TECOM Education Cluster. The criteria include evaluating the international ranking, teaching curriculum, business sustainability and research and development capacity among others.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director, TECOM Education Cluster, said: “We have to turn down a large number of universities every year, as they do not meet the set criteria required to operate from within the education cluster.”

Emphasising the need to improve educational standards, Dr Ayoub added: “We made it a point not to accept universities in a haphazard manner, as we have always wanted to develop a sustainable educational infrastructure. Such criteria help us in building better human capital that suits the needs of the region.”

TECOM received 25 applications from universities in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US.

Highlighting Dubai’s role as one of the leading education provider in the region, Dr Ayoub added: “Over 35 per cent of the 16,000 students studying at Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) are transnational and they come here from other countries just for higher education”.

Students at DIAC have access to over 300 higher education programmes, including undergraduate and post graduate programmes, in fields such as engineering, IT, media, business, fashion design, healthcare and mass communications among others. Working to meet the region’s workforce demand, the education cluster started seven years ago with 2,000 students at Dubai Knowledge Village (KV) and today, more than 16,000 students study in 30 universities here. — muaz@khaleejtimes.com