The National: The transformation from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based one is not only an important priority for UAE policymakers, it should be a priority for every individual in society. The Federal National Council (FNC) began calling for more emphasis on research at UAE universities after its education committee found that in 2010 only 0.2 per cent of GDP was earmarked for research. A knowledge-based economy is focused on the production and management of ideas, technology, data and information. It is much different to the current oil-based economy. The transformation from one to the other will include investment in building human capacity first before increasing budgets – and research is an important part of this. “No research, no knowledge-based economy”, was the accurate assessment of Dr Mona Al Bahar, an FNC member from Dubai and the chairwoman of the education committee. Building a knowledge-based economy is at the forefront and centre of Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030. … Read the full article
DUBAI: The Gulf Today: One of the world’s foremost education policy makers has encouraged teachers and education officials to focus on building students skills and the ability to solve problems, rather than just focusing on basic knowledge to boost education in the region. “Skills have become the single most important driver of the success of individuals and nations,” said Andreas Schleicher, the deputy director for education and skills and special adviser on education policy to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “The single most important finding from our analysis is in fact that the knowledge economy no longer pays you for what you know. Google knows everything these days. The knowledge economy pays you for what you can do with what you know.” Schleicher oversees the administration of the test and is widely regarded as the foremost authority on improving education around the world. The PISA test results are widely seen as a measure of how a nation is likely to fare in the knowledge economy. … Read the full article