Dubai launches £5bn education fund
The ruler of the Mideast’s booming economic capital, Dubai, launched a £5bn foundation today at the Dead Sea resort of Southern Shuneh, to fund education and human development in region.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also serves as the oil-rich United Arab Emirates’ prime minister, said the money, which he donated, would be used to create research centres, support university research and distribute scholarships to students.
“It is not enough to look over the development indicators each year and to exclaim in surprise at the region’s situation and the fact that it ranks among the lowest positions at the international level,” Sheikh Mohammed said in speech at the World Economic Forum.
“It is the ultimate form of negligence, to know why we lag behind and the dangers of doing so, and not to act.”
He said 18% of people under 15 in the Mideast are illiterate and that number jumps to 43% for women. He also said the Arab world spends 0.02% of its gross domestic product on scientific research, while developed countries spend between 2.5% and 5% on such research.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation will be based in Emirates and plans to begin handing out scholarships to students next year, a statement said.
