Spokesperson: Ammar Kaka, Provost and Vice Principal, Heriot-Watt University Dubai
Feature: Heriot-Watt University Dubai participation in The Global Education & Training Exhibition (GETEX)
- Why is Heriot-Watt participating in GETEX?
The Global Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX) is the leading student recruitment event in the region. It is an effective platform for all education providers to reach out to prospective students and their families.
As a university, we find it incredibly useful to take part in events such as these for several reasons. It allows us to showcase to industry, students and working professionals how we are preparing students for jobs of the future through our 90 different programmes. It gives us a chance to interact with students from schools across the UAE from Grade 9 and upwards at an early stage of their higher education planning. GETEX is also been a great platform us to engage with and recruit students who are in their final year of school, offer them individual career counselling as well as explore programs that are a right fit for them.
- What are you announcing at GETEX today?
We are making several announcements at GETEX today:
First, we are announcing the launch of an AED 8,000 GETEX exclusive scholarship. Students interested in availing of this can do so by paying their admission fee for the programme of their choice at GETEX itself.
Next, we have launched new programmes in line with changing market requirements. These are the MSc Digital Leadership, MSc Applied Accounting, MSc Business Analytics and Consultancy, BSc Data Science and MSc Global Sustainability Engineering.
Finally, we are today announcing the launch of a Design Hub at our Dubai campus that has been set up for the benefit of students from the School of Textiles and Design. The Design Hub has been set up specifically to enable a space for industry partners to come in and host workshops which will help these students absorb skills useful for a career in fashion, architecture, and interior design.
- What are some of the current trends you are seeing today?
Some of the trends we are seeing today are as follows.
The most important is that student mobility is set to grow again. As everyone is aware, the pandemic resulted in a significant decline in the flow of international students crossing borders to pursue higher education. We are starting to see a slow but steady comeback of international student mobility, driven by a strong desire to get back on track with academic and career goals after months of disruption, the availability of vaccines and the need to ‘not miss out’ on a holistic university experience. Programmes such as Heriot-Watt University’s ‘Go Global’ support this trend – ‘Go Global’ is our inter-campus transfer programme, available only for Heriot-Watt students and allows them to transfer to study abroad at another campus.
Another trend is the change in the profile of learners themselves. For example – the university student of today may not necessarily be an 18-year-old, but a working adult who attends college part time, or may even be juggling childcare. And for this new demographic of learners, universities such as ours is looking ways to make education more flexible so they can take it up alongside their daily lives, such as by pioneering new work-based learning, including apprenticeships, executive education programmes, micro credentials, and focused online programmes to develop a specific set of skills.
Finally, the education landscape in the UAE in general will become more competitive. We are already seeing more and more universities coming up, many of them with significant capacity. Students will have much greater choice in higher education as well as access to more scholarships. With the ever-evolving job market requiring candidates with the right mix of soft and technical skills, the educational institutes that pay far more attention to the overall growth of a student will emerge as winners.
- How have you tailored your courses and curriculum to meet these new requirements?
We have tailored our courses and curriculum to meet the requirements of a changing marketplace in several ways. Most importantly, our teaching blends curriculum and real-life skills that are needed today. Frequently sought-after skills normally relate to technology and years of experience, but are now seeing the rise in importance of soft skills. For example, resilience as a skill has gained great importance in a post-pandemic workplace, and employees who exhibit resilience will flourish rather than flounder.
Our faculty collaborate continuously with industry leaders which then translates into benefits for students in the form of internships and opportunities to work on projects. Doing so helps students develop the skillsets needed in order to be successful at the workplace even when they are studying. One example is our partnership with The Marketing Society, a global community of leading marketers. Through this partnership, we are running several initiatives such as one-on-one mentorship programmes, discussion groups, guest lectures and more.
Finally, there is a great deal of emphasis on entrepreneurship and creativity. Our Business Incubator programme provides a safe harbour and incubation facilities to young and budding entrepreneurs from our diverse student community, along with support from our academics and strong links with industry partners. We have also partnered with Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and Alchemy Labs, to offer a holistic and dedicated University Entrepreneurship Programme to our students.
