Schools across the Northern Emirates have returned to online learning following a rise of Covid-19 cases in the UAE.
All public and private schools and nurseries in Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain have resumed distance learning until at least the end of the month.
In Sharjah, it was announced classroom lessons would be suspended for at least the next two weeks to curb the spread of the virus.
Authorities confirmed on Thursday that all private schools and nurseries would continue distance learning under safety measures.
Late on Saturday, the Ministry of Education announced the emirate's public schools would follow suit.
On Sunday, the Ministry said schools and nurseries in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah would resume distance learning "until further notice".
The news came as a blow to some parents, who hoped their children would return to classroom again this week.
Ala Yousef, a 38-year-old Jordanian in Umm Al Quwain, said he and his wife have struggled to juggle work while overseeing their three young children's online studies.
“I have children in KG2 and grade 2 and it's not easy for my wife to attend to two children, who need supervision, especially with my constant absence from home due to the nature of my work,” said Mr Yousef, who is an operations manager for a chain of factories in the UAE, Germany and Jordan.
“A year ago, our children were being asked to avoid using smart gadgets, as studies have shown they affect their mental health, and now children as young as five are being told to sit for nearly five hours in front of a screen."
He said prolonged distance learning was causing friction among the family.
“I had to isolate myself in one room of my two-bedroom apartment and can hear screaming caused by the stress of distance learning.
“How can one parent attend to two children - if not more - at the same time?”
Home study also resumed in Ajman this month, after the emirate's crisis authority and the Ministry said it would halt face-to-face learning.
Pupils in Abu Dhabi returned to classrooms on Sunday after in-person lessons were delayed twice, since the new term began in January, because of concerns over infection rates.
Sharjah officials said the move back to online learning was made to safeguard the health of the school population.
Covid-19 cases have been on the rise since the turn of the year.
On Saturday, the UAE crossed 1,000 deaths since the start of the outbreak.
Officials have confirmed 345,605 infections to date, with 326,780 recoveries.
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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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.”
