The director of the Commission for Academic Accreditation within the UAE’s Ministry of Education,  Mohamed Yousif Baniyas highlighted to attendees at the event in Abu Dhabi that the UAE is the definition of an international community.

“There is no nationality that is not represented in this country. And having an international community living in peace, harmony and in an environment of tolerance is a great benefit to the whole world.

“Universities play a great role in the economy and UAE believes in internationalisation,” he said.

During the panel hosted by QS president Nunzio Quacquarelli, Yousif Baniyas was asked what the main benefit of international branch campuses was for the country.

“We look at that improving our educational system through having more international universities and through having more impact on students through branch campuses, collaboration between national universities and international universities for dual degrees, for research collaboration, for student and faculty exchange. All of those are positive indicators to us and we encourage them,” he responded.

“Education is the main player in improving society”

“Education is the main player in improving society and having international universities [helps with that].

“We look at from improving the society, improving living together, but also diversity in education brings more innovation and more knowledge.”

There is also a hope that international partnerships will help to improve the ranking of UAE universities, Yousif Baniyas suggested.

“We believe that if you improve quality and become international, the improvement the ranking will be automatic, hopefully.”