Rush to collect university data

As the new centre for higher education data and statistics gears up to release its first snapshot of the UAE's universities in August, academics around the country are rushing to collect the information it needs, writes Melanie Swan for The National.

The centre was announced last year by Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak. Its aim is to assist policy-makers, and also to help students and parents make more informed study choices. It will release information such as class sizes and drop-out rates.

The centre is headed by Professor David Woodhouse, who has spent many years setting up university quality assurance systems in countries such as Australia. It is in the process of gathering data from the 70 ministry-accredited universities and more than 30 others in free zones.

Until now, there has been no formal, centralised data collection, making it all but impossible to compare institutions on even the most basic metrics such as drop-out rates, graduation rates and entry scores.
Full report on The National site