DUBAI // The UAE branch of a British university plans to add 3,000 students over the next six years but will need to find more space to accommodate them or move to a new campus. Middlesex University Dubai wants to increase the number of students from 1,000 to 4,000 and also plans to launch several new programmes for the 2009/10 academic year.
Dr Raed Awamleh, the school's director, said student numbers would rise to 2,500 within three years. "We believe at the current growth rates, we'll reach that," he said. "In five to six years, it will probably be 4,000 and then we'll maintain that number." Middlesex University Dubai, which is based in Knowledge Village, opened in 2005. The university will make a decision about whether to move to expanded quarters at Dubai International Academic City later this year.
"Academic City is attractive in terms of space and facilities and the area is growing, so it's not really out of town any more," he said. "We love being in Knowledge Village, but the ability to expand is a bit limited." Middlesex University Dubai is like many higher education facilities in the UAE that are expanding or opening as the country moves towards becoming an educational hub for the region, attracting students who might otherwise have studied in Europe or North America.
In September, the university will launch a bachelor's degree in psychology with counselling and in the 2009/10 academic year, it plans to offer project management, logistics and health care management courses. Students can now study subjects including accountancy, business administration, tourism, IT, human resources, hospitality and publishing. Dr Awamleh said he expected universities in the UAE to eventually give greater emphasis to less technical subjects.
"I think that will be the next phase, the phase after the practical subjects," he said. "That will become normal with the development of the country. There will be a need for specialists in areas like journalism and literature. In five years, there will be demand." Dr Awamleh recently joined Middlesex University from the University of Wollongong in Dubai, where he was the dean of academic affairs. Prior to that, he worked at the University of Jordan.
Middlesex University Dubai is the first overseas branch of London's Middlesex University, which can trace its origins back to two colleges founded in the late 1800s. @Email:dbardsley@thenational.ae