• Home
• /
• Education

Education is about bricks and clicks

Into its 25th year, Skyline University College reinvents itself for today’s tech-driven sector

From hosting a class of 40 students to becoming one of the largest business schools with more than 6,000 alumni, Skyline University College (SUC), Sharjah, has come a long way. Celebrating 25 years, the college is counted among one of the oldest private education institutions offering higher education in the UAE.

Established in 1990, the college started with certificate programmes in the tourism sector. Today, more than 1,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate and post-graduate programmes offered by the college.

“It was a remarkable journey, being a home-grown University College,” says Kamal Puri, founder president and chairman of SUC.

Accredited by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the college has since diversified to offer programmes in marketing, business management, finance, aviation, hospitality, travel and tourism, and information systems.

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Puri said, “Education is no more in bricks. It’s about bricks and clicks. We were the first education institution to offer an online MBA in 1999 and we launched our own MBA course in 2005.

“Today, technology is changing traditional job roles. Most of the intermediaries in a business function have collapsed and this has led to the creation of more challenging roles where one has to be constantly updated. Today, the moment I finish a lecture, students already have access to it on their iPhone.”

With more technology entering classrooms, digital tools have revolutionised education. Be it a research project or watching a Harvard lecture on YouTube, students have equal access to knowledge.

“Students don’t want information today, they already have access to it. What they want to know is how to analyse and apply this information. Our innovation lab supports entrepreneurship and a business hub helps connect students with venture capitalists. This is where our role becomes important as a mentor,” he adds.

The college is planning to launch a doctoral programme as part of its efforts to increase course offerings.

“We would like to go in for a DBA programme, expanding vertically in the field of management as well as planning to expand horizontally in the areas of Computer Science, Law and Humanities. We have been successful in linking course offerings with job requirements — be it in aviation or tourism. We give students skills, knowledge and value-based education,” he added.

On the strategic plan and initiatives of the university for moving to the next level, Nitin Anand, director and chair of the Executive Council, SUC, said “The focus is on the internationalisation of the university in Africa, CIS countries and Asia. SUC is also actively engaging in entering into MoUs and articulation agreements with international universities of repute. SUC has taken initiatives to make a paradigm shift to creative teaching and academic research activities. The university has further prepared itself in CSR activities to contribute to the community development.”

muaz@khaleejtimes.com