The plan comes as a result of a landmark decision by government leaders to make education the highest priority as part of plans to improve the economic diversity and sustainability of Abu Dhabi.

The announcement was made at a press conference at Emirates Palace. Speaking at the conference were Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of ADEC; Dr. Rafic Makki, Executive Director of Strategic Affairs at ADEC; Sami Issa, Executive Director, Abu Dhabi Ecosystem Development at Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC); and Wyatt R. Hume, Provost, UAE University.

Dr. Rafic Makki presented a comprehensive overview of the Higher Education Strategic Plan and explained that the Higher Education Strategic Plan is essential for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to reach its economic and developmental goals.

Dr. Al Khaili said with the support of His Highness General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, ADEC had developed a plan for higher education that aligns with the Emirate’s social and economic vision. He lauded the ongoing commitment of H.H. Shaikh Mohammed to improvement of the education sector.

‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has been the inspiration for our plans to transform the education system to a system of education excellence that we are implementing through our 10 Year Strategic Plan for primary and secondary education.

The Abu Dhabi Higher Education Strategy will focus on four priorities:

1. Raising the quality of Abu Dhabi’s higher education system to internationally recognised levels;

2. Aligning higher education with Abu Dhabi’s social, cultural, and economic needs;

3. Building and maintaining a research eco-system to drive an innovation-based economy;

4. Providing all qualified students with affordable access to higher education.

Each priority will be delivered through a number of flagship strategic initiatives and will be measured against set target metrics.

The Plan was developed by a Higher Education taskforce formed in 2009 to develop Abu Dhabi’s Higher Education Strategic Plan. The taskforce committee comprised of renowned education and government institutions including: the General Secretariat, the Executive Affairs Authority, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE University, ATIC, Harvard Business School, Oxford University, and Imperial College London.

After extensive research and data collection, the taskforce found specific misalignments between the current higher education system and the targets set by Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. The taskforce developed a strategy to tackle these challenges through raising standards, incentives, and establishing committees and agencies to oversee progress.

The Abu Dhabi Higher Education strategy complements ADEC’s 10 Year Strategic Plan, which was developed to transform the primary and secondary education sector to a system of the highest quality, one where students would develop the skills they need to enter higher education. With the implementation of the higher education plan, ADEC is delivering improvements across the entire education sector in Abu Dhabi to create a system of educational excellence.

‘We can only achieve our development goals with the support of a workforce that has the right skills and expertise. It is through a world class education system from early childhood to higher education, research and innovation and continuous learning that we can meet this goal and the Abu Dhabi Higher Education Strategic Plan is one of the vital mechanisms through which we can do this,’ Dr. Al Khaili said.