More Chinese are studying in Dubai

The number of Chinese students studying in Dubai has grown quickly during the past five years, in step with the rapidly growing trade and business between China and the United Arab Emirates city.

There are 815 Chinese students studying in Dubai this year, up from 304 in 2010, Abdulla Al Karam, director general of Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority, told China Daily.

"That is in line not only with the population growth, but also with the economic ties between China and Dubai," he said during his visit to Beijing for Dubai Week, a seven-day event held by Dubai and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to enhance Chinese people's knowledge and understanding of the international city.

Both the number of Chinese living in Dubai and the number of Chinese businesses in Dubai grow every year, Karam said. He believed that as both numbers grow, Dubai will see Chinese families coming on a larger scale.

According to Karam, apart from economic factors, there are many other reasons for Chinese parents to choose education in Dubai for their children. Diversity, which Karam said is what's unique about Dubai education, comes first.

For example, at the university level, Karam said, Dubai now has 26 branches of international universities from 11 countries, including Canada, the United States and Israel. They were all built during the past decade.

"It is a very unique system because it provides a lot of nice options for the parents to choose," he said. "Parents have more choices in Dubai than they do anywhere else."

Safety, which is valued by many parents, is the second appeal, Karam said.

"If we ask the parents why they send their children to study in Dubai, the number-one reason besides the diversity is that Dubai is a very safe place," he said.

In addition, Karam believed the school's strengths lie in the great attention they pay to student happiness.

"We find that students are very happy in Dubai because they get to meet students from 200 different nationalities in the same schooling environment. That makes them very happy," he said.

As economic ties between China and Dubai grow, collaboration in the education field has also been strengthened, Karam said.

He said Dubai is working with the Chinese government to design and open Chinese curricula in Dubai, and they are also collaborating at the higher education level, for example by setting up scholarships to support student and faculty visits and exchanges. "Eventually, I think, we will have some branch universities from China open in Dubai," he said.

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn