Revolutionizing Education: Exploring UAE’s Excellence in Vocational Learning and Teaching

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET), Career Technical Education (CTE), and Learning Factories have become key terms in education discussions worldwide. These strategies aim to support employment and long-term employability, particularly for young people, by equipping them with specialized skills like adaptation, cooperation, and digital skills. The UAE’s education system is rapidly gaining international recognition as a hub of excellence, with a strong vocational education offering alongside traditional academic institutions. In this article, we interview the management of GEMS Education, Repton School Dubai, and the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai, as well as legal expert Mohamed Rouchdi, to explore the latest developments in this exciting field. We also gain a youth’s perspective from Aanya Khandelwal, the 15-year-old president of the UAE chapter of Girl Up.

Empowering Future Leaders: Insights from GEMS Education, Repton School Dubai & Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai

EdDesign explores the extensive investments schools in the UAE are making in vocational education, from infrastructure upgrades to cutting-edge technologies. Our expert panel including: Lisa Bardin, IBCP Coordinator at the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai (SISD), Sean McDermott, Assistant Head at Repton School Dubai, and Matthew Tompkins, Director of Student Employability at GEMS Education. They help us to uncover the exciting opportunities and experiences that vocational education offers, and how it equips students for the ever-evolving work environment.

Photo: Repton School Dubai 

Vocational learning provides an authentic work experience environment that supports mastery of industry-specific skills and knowledge. This can be designed in the form of apprenticeships, tracked systems such as the International Baccalaureate® Career-related Path (IBCP) and Bachelor of Technology (B.TEC), or as components of a traditional education programme. How do schools in the UAE include vocational education in their curricula?

Lisa Bardin, SISD – We offer a very large spectrum of options of academic DP [IB Diploma Programme] subjects to fulfill the needs of all our learners. We educate students to learn how to learn and become life-long learners. Our students learn in and out of our classrooms and learn via a practical approach. Our CP [IB Career Path] programme combined an excellent balance of DP academic subjects in conjunction with our B.TEC programme that focuses on learning via an immersive approach in the industry to gain skills needed for the workplace and university.

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai – We have the vocational side of our school which is IBCP programmes, and B.TEC. We are really fortunate to have a really strong parent body that offers work experience to certain students.

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education – I think you have to be dealing with life situations. You should enable young people to work within a context that: 1) they’re comfortable with; 2) that motivates them because they can start to apply theory into practice.  So we work, in some instances, through project-based internships. For example, we worked with an external company to create internships with the Saudi German Hospital. That company, YSpot (Youth Spot), works with a group of our students, takes them into the hospital, and works with them inside the hospital in a real-life situation. 

Students are advised by the doctors, the nurses and the administrators and formulate a solution to the problem posed. They're fully immersed within the work environment. They get to understand more about the different roles available in a hospital and how the different roles may suit their strengths and characteristics. This approach enables us to provide meaningful work inspiration in an area which otherwise is very difficult to provide that in.

Matthew Tompkins, Director of Student Employability, GEMS Education

Providing vocational education implies possessing a wide variety of specialist machinery and related infrastructure. What examples of modern vocational education spaces and strategies exist in your school?

Lisa Bardin, SISD - With our CP programme, we bring to the UAE the Swiss hospitality and Business excellence in an on growing market with a need for highly qualified staff who have a good academic background and experience from leaders in the industry. Innovative approach to learning with immersive environment: leveraging VR and AI to facilitate learning experiences which surpasses the traditional classroom environment is supported by students also completing placement in workforce environment in the hospitality industry.

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education - We purposefully differentiate the experience and feeling as you walk into each of our schools. They are all part of the same network and benefit hugely from collaboration and the support of each other but they're very individual and they respond to the needs of the communities that they serve.  We're currently working with a company to provide opportunity for students in 10 of our schools to develop a deeper awareness of electric cars, how they work and their impact on the environment. They're actually going to build an electric car in their schools. At the end of the project, they will share their learning with our broader community and take part in a time trial, competing against the other GEMS Schools.

We've also got an e-sports and game design specialism in some of our schools. In GEMS FirstPoint School and GEMS Modern Academy, they've got gaming labs sponsored by Lenovo. GEMS FirstPoint School in “The Villa” is actually the first school in the Middle East to introduce a BTEC course in Game Design. They work with the Unreal Engine, the backbone to a lot of modern games. They've got the only Unreal-trained teacher in the Middle East as well. If you go to GEMS International School, they've got flight simulators in the school. So that you can be starting your journey towards becoming a pilot whilst in the school.

Photo: GEMS Education Schools; flight  simulator and Lenovo gaming labs 

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai - F1 in Schools is a STEAM project where the students design, engineer and create these mini F1 cars and they have to get the sponsorship as well. They race with schools in the local area and then internationally. We have one of our students involved with the F4 as well. One of our Year 10 students was in the Italian F4 grand prix. We have a little race track. We have an actual, full-sized Range Rover in the school as well, that the students use to understand and develop an F1 car. Our design technology offerings are world class. We have many 3D printers, laser printers and different pieces of equipment. That's a real asset for the school.  For the Innovation Hub, Nikon provided us with Z62s, Z50s, the green screen, and more including the hub's decor. It's not just photography, but a safe space to be creative. Our podcast is a product of this.

Parents play an important role in advising their children, but creative marketing combined with the complexity in the choices available can confuse. How do parents tell the difference between effective vocational teaching designed to integrate within a “skills value chain”, and promotional marketing gimmicks?

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education - I'd always advise somebody who's interested in a school to go around during a working day and don't stand at the back of the classroom and look at the teacher, stand at the front of the classroom and look at the kids. Because that's the experience that your child is going to have.  As schools, we do put on the show for open days. But go around during the working day and if people are resistant to that, you're possibly looking at the wrong school.

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai - We invite the parents in. We have a Repton Fringe Festival that parents can join and during the Open Days we have master classes for parents where students lead the sessions. We've also had parents come in and use the facilities. We've had new parents who were into food creation come in and took some photos. We also have a few student-led activities. 

It's not just a marketing tool, because there's obviously a huge marketing potential that comes with this. It is the reaction of the parents whose children use it all the time. The emails we get saying, 'Look, my child is obsessed with photography now. They come home; they're showing me the photos they are editing.'That's the biggest thing for me. There are parents in the coffee shop and they stop me and say they're like: 'Look, I just want to let you know what an impact this has had on my child».

Sean McDermott, Assistant Head, Repton School Dubai

Photo: Repton School 

What other contributions can parents be expected to make?

Lisa Bardin, SISD - We are very proud to have a very active parent community here at SISD! For example, parents are invited to participate in its annual career day. Last year, we managed to place 50 Grade 10 students despite the pandemic, and most opportunities have been found within our community. All parents at SISD, including from Primary and Early Years, have been actively involved and instrumental in offering a wide range of opportunities for our students, and building our network of companies every year. Opportunities at Nestlé, AW Rostamani, Cartier, Puma, Estée Lauder, Jo Malone, Mont Blanc, Baraquer Eye Hospital, Caviar Kaspia, Coya, BSA Law Firm, Nara Desert Escape and more have all emerged from the strong support we have received from our parent community.

It may be expected that effective vocational education leads to higher rates of secondary school completion and early-career earnings, do you have any examples of student work outcomes that support this theory?

This year, we already have 45 Grade 10 students who have organised their own placements for the month of June! Opportunities have been found in various fields such as business, luxury management, hospitality, medicine, engineering, international relations, architecture, design and sustainability. Our students joining the CP programme next year will benefit from our strong collaborations and network. Our partnership with the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, will enable our students to access outstanding placements. Our students will get industry experience from experts.

Lisa Bardin, IBCP Coordinator, Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai (SISD)

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education - We've got a really exciting opportunity that we are working on for this summer vacation, actually. A six-week program with Miral Partners who run Ferrari World, Warner Brothers World, Sea World. They've given us 45 internships, fully paid internships during the summer vacation.

We worked on a survey [with KPMG] to do with employability and how we deliver employability skills within schools. We did a survey with 10 of our GEMS schools. We then had five students, through an application process that applied to intern with KPMG. They went to work with KPMG for two weeks and they: 1) did the data analysis; and then 2) started to formulate the report. It was so strong from the students aged 15 to 17; that KPMG are going to produce it as one of their reports. So we're going to launch that mid-June. 

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai - Our younger students are working unpaid internships and they've done a number of things for the Dubai Marathon that happened. We've had students that have got external opportunities as well. One of our students who's now in year 11, has actually had a few different photography gigs based on his experience built at the Nikon Innovation Hub, and businesses have contacted him and family friends, and he's got a little portfolio he's working on because his main goal is not necessarily to be a photographer, he's got aspirations of being a lawyer. He's very much creating a little photography studio as he ventures into the world.

Unlocking Opportunities: UAE's Recent Amendments to Employment Laws for Juveniles

Changes made to UAE Federal Laws in November 2021 and passed in February 2022 opened opportunities for employment for juveniles aged 15-18. EdDesign Mag interviews expert lawyer Mohamed Rouchdi, partner at Dubai-based legal consultancy Saad Al Hammadi, to shed light on the details. 

How can a juvenile/minor (15-18 year old) residing in the UAE become legally employed?

What trends have you seen in the recent past, especially in light of the amendments to UAE law regarding juvenile employment?

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education - I think parents been wanting it for a long time. It's a great opportunity for young people to get that experience, it  will help to inform so many decisions that they will make from that point onwards.

Lisa Bardin, SISD - The CP programme is becoming a more and more popular choice for students with our student numbers multiplying by 10 in 2 years, reflecting a strong interest in the CP programme. New B.TEC International Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business and Hospitality is a unique opportunity for students in the UAE.

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai - I think there's some difficulties around that as well. In the UK, for example, you could walk down the street, catch a bus and go to a local place. So there's some restrictions on that. As a school, we're very cautious of the idea of people going into employment with a third party. We need to check working conditions and safeguards, we are also starting to build some other partnerships.

Another driver for vocational education appears to be the drive for sustainability and greening the economy. What is your experience here:

Matthew Tompkins, GEMS Education - GEMS Legacy School was the first school in the world I think to get all of their teachers “EU climate change trained”. We have a responsibility to young people. We're not turning out young people just with incredible exam results. The mindset of sustainability, the mindset of global civics and understanding how different cultures work and interact, they're the things that will serve you throughout your life regardless of what you decide to do.

Sean McDermott, Repton School Dubai - We have our own Eco Council. I look after the student leadership team as well. I've really tried to develop that this year by giving them more leadership roles and real leadership opportunities. We conduct leadership training, minute meetings, and action points. Two of our most high performing students made the decision that they wanted to do a Student Council and I said I want you to drive my Eco Council for me and they have loved working on it, especially with COP 28 on the horizon.

Empowering Youth for a Better World: Aanya Khandelwal's Impact on Equality and the Environment

EdDesign Mag delves into the world of 15-year-old Aanya Khandelwal, an exceptional youth leader and the current president of Girl Up UAE, to uncover what employers can anticipate as the law opens doors for juveniles to enter the workforce. Aanya has grown up through the UAE education system, having studied the Indian curriculum since kindergarten and is now enroled in the pursuit of the International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme (IBDP) at a prestigious Dubai-based school.

Tell us about your work with Girl Up and Youngo?

I work as president of Girl Up UAE and part of the larger Girl Up MENA region and the Girl Up Arab region. We work on equality for women and providing them platforms to really talk about what their opinions and what their values are, what we believe in and what they really expect from governments and just society in general.

I'm also part of Youngo, the official children and youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. For example, I have attended Local COY (LCOY) which is the local Conference of Youth and the whole purpose of our LCOY is it leads up to the ARCOY which is the divisional conference of youth. And then the Global COY which is the conference for youth, which is right before Cop28 (UN Conference of the Parties).

Aanya Khandelwal, President of Girl Up UAE

EdDesign Mag is grateful for all the contributions to this edition, and for those interested in pursuing further research in this area, we include a selection of readings that have helped to inform our discussions.

USEFUL LINKS

KHDA on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
GEMS Education Services
Repton School
Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai (SSID)

REFERENCES

Carruthers, C. and Jepsen, C. (2020) Vocational Education: An International Perspective. CESifo Working Paper No. 8718, Available at SSRN or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3740330.

Edwards, S. (2021) The Opportunity For Learning Factories in the UK. London: The Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

ILO (2021). Digitalization of national TVET and skills systems - Harnessing technology to support LLL: An enquiry and action framework.

Marope, P.T.M., Chakroun, B., & Holmes, K. P. (2015). Unleashing the potential: Transforming technical and vocational education and training. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Publishing: Paris.

Özer, M. (2022). School-based improvement in VET: “The 1,000 schools in vocational education and training project”. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 11(2), 268-279. https://doi.org/10.14686/buefad.1096198.

May 2023