UAE

Pakistani school fails to satisfy inspectors for fifth year running

One of the two Pakistani school in Dubai has been rated ‘weak’ by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai, for the fifth consecutive year.

Amna Ehtesham Khaishgi

February 20, 2016

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DUBAI // One of the two Pakistani schools in Dubai has been rated “weak” by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) for a fifth consecutive year.

The H H Sheikh Rashid Al Makhtoum Pakistani High School was deemed unsatisfactory because of its overall performance.

The emirate’s other Pakistani school, the privately-run Pakistani Education Academy, was rated “acceptable’.

According to the KHDA school inspection findings report 2015-2016: “The overall picture for Pakistani curriculum schools in Dubai is less positive, and remains a concern for KHDA.”

Last year, when KHDA graded H H Sheikh Rashid Al Makhtoum Pakistani High School unsatisfactory, its report said that the school had not met the high expectations or ambitions of students and parents.

Staff were demotivated, the report found. “They lacked determination and capacity to take the steps to make the essential changes,” it said.

“The principal and senior leadership team had not acted decisively to prioritise or address the key areas of weakness identified during the previous inspections, particularly those related to students’ health, safety, attainment, progress, as well as teaching, learning and assessment.”

Principal Dr Akhtar Waqqas said this year the school had lagged behind because of special education needs standards and problems with the board of governors at the time the school was inspected.

“We have been unable to provide the special education infrastructure and a qualified teacher due to the absence of funds. And at the time of inspection, the school’s governing body was not available.”

Syed Akhtar Ali, father of Usman – a Grade 9 at the school – said management had to work hard on maintaining discipline.

“If we had regular communication with management, we could have shared our concerns and played our role in improving education and discipline.”

akhaishigi@thenational.ae

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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.”

Company profile

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