The UAE and GCC's education sector holds bright prospects for teachers and the other general administration staff as demand will grow in coming years in line with surge in population across the region.

The shortage of teachers in the region is also the second highest in the world as the profession is of less interest to the locals who prefer to work in highly paid public sector jobs. Although the region has a lower pupil-teacher ratio of 17 compared to the world average, the countries face challenges in recruiting highly qualified teachers. Growing demand for teachers at international schools in the UAE of at least 14,000 over the next five years and in Saudi Arabia of 183,600 by 2030 will pose further problems, Marmore Mena Intelligence said in its report "Is education still a good business in the GCC?"

According to industry figures, GCC's K-12 education market stood at $67 billion (Dh245.9 billion), of which the share of private schools accounted for $8.1 billion (Dh29.7 billion).

MR Raghu, managing director of Marmore Mena Intelligence, says shortage of qualified staff is still a challenge faced by many institutions in the UAE. Private players need to offer salaries above the global average to attract quality staff. Over the period of next 3 years, about 10,000 staff are expected to be recruited.

"Despite the projected entry of more players into the education sector, the demand is also expected to grow in the coming years. Thereby, the tuition fee is highly unlikely to decrease and is expected to grow at the existing rate," he said.

"We expect the number of UAE private schools to grow by five per cent in 2018 compared to the current year as enrollment is expected to rise."

Replying to a query whether the existing educational institutions meet requirements for the growing population in the UAE, Raghu said they would not be able to meet the demands as the enrollment levels are expected to increase over the next few years owing to the projected growth of the population between the ages zero to 18

Therefore, an influx of private institutions is expected in the coming years to meet the growing demand.

Favourable demographics, rising disposable income, government initiatives and the willingness of parents to spend on education are expected to be key growth drivers for the education sector.

The average spending for education in the UAE is nearly twice that of the global average and the average tuition fee for private institutions in the UAE has grown at a compound annual growth rate of five per cent since 2011.

A recent study by HSBC disclosed that school fees in the UAE is the second-highest in the world. It found that the cost for sending a child to school in the UAE, from primary to university, will be around $99,378 (Dh365,025).

According to Mahboob Murshed, managing director of Alpen Capital, the total number of students in the UAE is projected to grow at an annualised rate of 4.1 per cent, from an estimated 1.1 million in 2015 to 1.4 million in 2020; there are around 220 schools forecasted to be set up in the UAE by 2020. Irteza Ahmed, director of Investments at Amanat Holdings, which holds stakes in educational institutions including Madaares, says there is considerable planning and visibility regarding new schools opening in 2018 - and along with existing supply, these new schools will help address demand in the market. With respect to teachers, the UAE remains an attractive destination for teachers trained locally and across the globe.

Source: Khaleej Times