Many expatriate workers come to the UAE to seek a better life. They want to earn more money, further their careers – or build a new career – and pursue opportunities that are hard to come by or simply don’t exist in their home countries. Many are also looking to the future: they want to give their children the best possible start in life. That, of course, begins with finding an excellent school.
As veteran UAE-based Pakistani teacher Farazana Rashid told The National this week, many of her compatriots here are choosing to have their children educated at schools that offer a curriculum different to that of their home country. As a result, she says, these children have become confused about their national identity. Ms Rashid acknowledges that Pakistan has its problems but maintains that the children of expatriates should be taught in such a way as to "become part of the solution rather than disconnecting themselves with their original identity".
The difficulty with this argument – and it is by no means restricted to the Pakistani community – is that many children of expatriates will never return to live in their homelands. Studying a British, American or other international curriculum may serve their needs better than the one from their home country. Many of these children will continue on to tertiary education here in the UAE, or in Europe or America, and will look for jobs that suit their skills and interests. Like their parents before them, they will become global citizens who will move from one opportunity to the next, wherever in the world that may take them.
Developing countries such as Pakistan find themselves in a Catch-22 situation: they desperately need educated and experienced people in all fields, but to get that education and experience, their citizens have joined the diaspora – and many show no inclination to return. This is compounded when their children, who have little cultural connection to their parents’ birthplace, move even further afield. Instead of expecting the children of the diaspora to improve economic conditions at home, Pakistan would be better creating a society that will attract them back.
