Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE’s minister of education, met with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo at the Zayed Educational Complex in Dubai on January 14 to discuss fostering innovation in education and promoting academic collaboration.
The visit, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and the UAE, aimed to successfully exchange practices in curriculum design, innovative teaching approaches, and teacher training programmes.
“The United Arab Emirates is developing quickly, and the country has ambitious goals in areas such as climate change mitigation and digitalisation. This trip showed that Finnish companies have even more expertise to offer in these key areas than before,” Orpo said in his speech during the visit.
With the UAE being the largest destination for Finnish exports in the Gulf and Middle East region, its Ministry of Education is keen to leverage the well-built ties between the countries by drawing on Finland’s expertise in education.
I’m not surprised that this collaboration is in place because Finland is seen as a great example of high-quality education
Ashwin Assomull, L.E.K Consulting
“‘I’m not surprised that this collaboration is in place because Finland is seen as a great example of high-quality education, and the UAE is constantly trying to improve its educational system making it better year after year,” said Ashwin Assomull, a partner at L.E.K. Consulting, and head of the firm’s Global Education Practice.
“The UAE has been very successful at bringing different curricula to the systems and is constantly benchmarking and looking at the best practices from all over the world and localising them to create something that is truly world-class ” added Assomull.
While giving the Finnish delegation an introductory tour of the Zayed Educational Complex, Al Amiri highlighted its cutting-edge facilities, including modern classrooms, advanced labs, a playground, and creative spaces. She emphasised that these features reflect the UAE’s academic vision and commitment to fostering innovation as a sustainable approach in education.
As the UAE has the largest network of private schools in the world, the country has invested quite extensively in raising the standard of research and higher education.
“Policymakers are focused on creating high-quality education systems making them globally recognised,” Assmoull remarked.
“This collaboration helps build relationships on a government-to-government basis, creating more interesting innovations”.
