Emirati students rejecting scientific fields of study

Emirati students are increasingly rejecting scientific fields of study, which is leading to an imbalance, a leading Emirati educational expert warned at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research's (ECCSR) second annual Education Conference's concluding day. "This is a very serious dilemma. Over the past ten years, increasing numbers of Emirati students are focusing on pursing degrees and careers in literary based fields, such as communication instead of looking at science-based fields…to date, any attempts to encourage them into fields such as mathematics or medicine have failed because they believe that these fields are dry and boring. We have to take stronger measures to show them that this isn't true," Dr Abdullatif M AlShamsi, Managing Director, Institute of Applied Technology, said. One method he highlighted that could be used was observing other countries, such as Germany, which has a diverse and flexible educational programme for schools and universities.