Dubai private schools have been ranked sixth in the world for reading and literacy skills.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment, which is done every five years to measure the reading and literacy skills of grade four pupils worldwide, found that private schools in Dubai scored 566 points in the 2021 study – significantly higher than the global average of 500 points.
The latest results show Dubai schools, which feature in the top 10 for the first time, have increased their score by 76 points since 2011. In 2016, when the previous study was carried out, Dubai schools scored 527.
Schools rated Outstanding scored 631 points, while Very Good and Good schools scored 588 points and 564 points respectively.
UK curriculum schools in Dubai performed best in the assessment, scoring 588 points, followed by IB curriculum schools with 583 points and Indian schools with 567.
"These results are significant not just because they exemplify the world-class teaching and learning happening across our schools every day," said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, KHDA director general.
"They are also an acknowledgement of how our school community worked together to overcome the restrictions in place at the time PIRLS was conducted."
The PIRLS assessment found 27 per cent of pupils in Dubai private schools achieved the Advanced International Benchmark of 625 points, compared with 12 per cent in 2016.
A questionnaire in the study found that 87 per cent of Dubai private school pupils are confident in reading.
“The results from the latest PIRLS assessments reflect the performance of the school inspections, with Outstanding and Very Good schools outperforming global averages," said Fatma Belrehif, chief executive at Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau.
"We are proud of our school community’s dedicated approach to supporting students through the pandemic and continuing to offer high-quality education during challenging times.”
The PIRLS assessment, which has been running since 2001, requires nine and 10-year-olds from grade four or year five to complete comprehension tests.
It provides internationally comparative data on how well children read by assessing students' reading achievement in different countries.
PIRLS, which is run by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in Amsterdam and Boston College in the US, assessed about 400,000 pupils in 57 countries.
On Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, praised the success of the UAE's annual Arab Reading Challenge, which he said has become the largest such event in the world.
Sheikh Mohammed said 24.8 million school pupils from 46 countries had taken part in this year's competition, the finals of which are expected to be held towards the end of the year.
The annual challenge, launched by Sheikh Mohammed in 2015, aims to encourage a million young people to read at least 50 books in a year.
The Arab Reading champion is selected based on the pupil's ability to articulate general knowledge, critical thinking and communication skills, plus the diversity of books they have selected.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
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