Following the January 2025 launch of a brand new British Council report analyzing TNE alternatives within the Center East, delegates of a convention hosted by Middlesex College (MDX) Dubai heard concerning the nation’s rising demand for department campuses.
“By 2040, we’re anticipating that we are going to greater than double enrolment in greater training,” a speaker from Dubai’s Information and Human Improvement Authority (KHDA) advised delegates.
“Making an allowance for the present capability and future growth plans of present universities, we anticipate we’ll want 10 to fifteen extra department campuses to take care of demand. Provide is rising exponentially, and the training sector has to reply,” stated the speaker.
The UAE has develop into a key regional and world hub for TNE, internet hosting over 237,000 worldwide college students in 2023, famous the report.
Presently, there are 57 worldwide establishments in Dubai, most of that are department campuses situated in the developmental ‘freezones’ of Dubai’s Information Village or Dubai Worldwide Educational Metropolis (DIAC). 9 of the Department campuses are run by UK establishments.
“The freezones had been the catalyst for progress as a result of they enabled universities to return with out vital capital infrastructure funding and work with companions. They’d entry to world class services and had been capable of slowly develop from a small dimension,” stated the speaker.
By 2040, we’re anticipating that we are going to greater than double enrolment in greater training
KHDA
Middlesex College Dubai, the nation’s largest British greater training establishment and one of many first worldwide department campuses within the UAE, was established in 2005 in Dubai’s Information Village freezone and has since expanded additional into the DIAC as of 2021.
The report highlighted the success of MDX Dubai – which hosted the convention – and which at the moment enrols over 6,300 college students from 120 international locations.
The establishment’s speedy progress, which is forecast to extend enrolment ranges to eight,000 college students within the subsequent 4 years, is indicative of Dubai’s burgeoning scholar inhabitants fuelling demand for extra greater academic establishments.
“Middlesex College Dubai is proud to play a big position in advancing TNE inside the UAE, supporting high-quality TNE partnerships that deal with each native and world wants,” stated Cedwyn Fernandes, director of MDX Dubai, on the publication of the report.
“We’ve got persistently targeted on monetary sustainability, robust scholar enrolment, and providing numerous packages aligned with Dubai’s financial priorities,” added Fernandes.
Final yr, Dubai’s KHDA obtained roughly 70 expressions of curiosity in establishing a department campus, as in contrast with a mean of 10 – 15 requests which has been typical of the previous 5 years, in response to the authority.
Whereas welcoming the “super curiosity”, the speaker stated he understood that KHDA needed to be selective: “We’ve got to guard establishments which are right here, investments which are already within the nation, and we’ve received to usher in establishments that add worth and feed gaps available in the market.”
These priorities are outlined in Dubai’s Schooling 33 (E33) technique introduced in November 2024, which units bold targets for greater training together with rising Dubai’s worldwide scholar inhabitants by 50% and attaining 10X progress in training tourism by 2033.
The technique additionally covers Okay-12 and is aiming so as to add 49,000 new inexpensive college seats by 2033.
