Educational Opportunities Explored in United Arab Emirates

NOTE: A social media version of this release, with high-res downloadable photographs and audio clips, is available at http://gov.ns.ca/news/smr/2010-10-22-UAE-Educational-Opportunities/

Premier Darrell Dexter today, Oct. 22, toured the men's college campus of Abu Dhabi Higher Colleges of Technology to explore further educational opportunities between universities in Nova Scotia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Higher Colleges of Technology is one of three state university systems overseen by Sheikh Nahayan, minister responsible for higher education. The campus is one of 17 in the United Arab Emirates.

"On the recommendation of Sheikh Nahayan, I was able to tour the campus and meet with senior officials to pursue further opportunities in the areas of coastal zone management and marine management," said Premier Dexter.

"Mark Drummond, provost of Higher Colleges of Technology, gave me the tour of the campus and expressed his desire to pursue co-operation on research and development projects between our universities."

The Higher Colleges of Technology is the largest higher educational institution in the United Arab Emirates with the current enrolment exceeding 18,000 students.

The Higher Colleges of Technology partners to provide training and development programs with many organizations including the Department of Health and Medical Services - Dubai, United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems.

Premier Dexter also met with officials from GASCO, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to explore opportunities to help GASCO maximize the potential of its Abu Dhabi based training centre.

The GASCO training centre uses very similar equipment to what the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) uses to train workers.

"The province, along with our partners at EduNova Gulf, Cape Breton University, and the NSCC is confident we can provide all of the knowledge and expertise needed to run a state-of-the-art training centre for GASCO," said Premier Dexter.

"When I met with officials at GASCO, I assured them that Nova Scotia is ready, willing and able to assist them in developing a training centre that will meet and exceed their high standards of excellence."

The premier visited Abu Dhabi during his trade mission that began in South Korea, where he met with a number of business partners and prospects.