As the UAE celebrates 41st National Day, its single greatest achievement is its young and educated population. “The young people of the nation is its future” as the country’s founding father Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan is frequently quoted as saying, reflecting his deep commitment to providing young Emiratis the best education they can get.

Over 65 per cent of the national population is under 25 years old, which means a vast wave of young people is about to hit the job market, and take their place in adult society. Some may decide to become home-makers, but the majority of young men and women will seek to develop their own careers, and they will be using the skills that they have all acquired through the compulsory education that the UAE Government has introduced since becoming a federation.
 

Many Emiratis over 41 would have found it hard to get an education because in 1971, while there was a network of basic primary schools in most parts of the country, there were only a limited number of secondary schools, and no universities. Despite this, it is greatly to this older generation’s credit that they recognised the importance of education for the UAE, so that the federal and local governments made huge efforts to build a world-class educational establishment in the country.
 

But all this important work becomes useless if young Emiratis cannot build their own careers, and find work to support their ambitions. Till now, the small number of Emiratis coming onto the job market have largely been absorbed by government entities. They offer the young workers several benefits such as job security, generous salaries, comfortable hours and long holidays, which make government jobs attractive. In addition, the young person can take pride in the fact that he or she is working to make their country better, and they value the respect the element of public service brings to their work.

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But ultimately the private sector must take over creating job opportunities for Emiratis. Encouraging all companies operating in the UAE to hire Emiratis has become a priority. This was summed up by His Highness President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who said: “First Emiratis. Second, Emiratis. Third, Emiratis”, as was quoted by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, when he honoured those taking part in the Absher Initiative to get young Emiratis to work in the private sector.
 

The UAE’s private sector currently has about five million jobs, which at the moment should be easily able to absorb the few thousands of Emiratis coming into the job market every year. Employers need to be willing to mentor young recruits, and they have to shift their management practices away from first looking for trained staff from abroad and instead look locally for potential talent.
 

The UAE is poised to become one of the successful knowledge economies in the Middle East. As much of the rest of the region is distracted by violence and conflict, the UAE is remarkable that it has been able to focus on its internal development.
 

Its leaders know that by nurturing an educated and globally-aware population of young Gulf Arabs, they will have a truly remarkable asset in a few decades.

 

Gulf News