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Education funds cut in recession

Not much enthusiasm among corporates in region to send staff for higher education programmes

In 2008, Faiz Ansari approached his department head with a request for financial support to further his education, unable to burden the full cost of an MBA from an international university himself.

If it were not for the tuition remission programme at his organisation, the Dubai-based professional said he would have had to defer his plans for a few more years.

“Doing an MBA requires a significant financial commitment,” said Ansari, who is the territory director at AstraZeneca, a UK-based biopharmaceutical company.

But representatives at the Manchester Business School (MBS), where Ansari is pursuing his degree, said companies have tightened their belt in these turbulent economic times, reducing the number of students being funded for education.

“We have noticed a dip in company-funded employees enrolled at the MBS,” said Randa Bessiso, Director of MBS Middle East.

“Around 10 to 12 per cent of our students were funded every year but that has dropped to six per cent.”

Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa region at the Cass Business School, said when the UK school was established at Dubai International Financial Center in 2007, a good number of students were being sponsored by their companies for the Executive MBA programme.

“In 2009, that went down because during recession, training and marketing budgets are cut first,” Razavizadeh said.

Universities are seeing an increase in enrolments as executives consider returning to education for skill enhancement during a phase of financial difficulties.

With more than 85 per cent of the students being self-funded at the MBS, Bessiso says Middle East companies lack a sponsorship culture that is present in the other parts of the world.

“Corporate sponsorship has not picked up in the region as it has in the other countries where we have international centres. It is only gradually being recognised as a way to retain and attract talent,” she said, adding that support needn’t always be financial but giving time off to employees to take courses is also an integral part of the manpower development culture.

A tuition reimbursement policy can be seen as a calculated step towards growth and a human resource retention.

“Higher education is an expensive affair, so companies need to have a clear strategy before they invest in their staff,” Razavizadeh mentioned. In a transient society, motivating employees to upgrade their skills does not only translate into better productivity but also ensures long-term commitment and decreases attrition rates.

Qatar-based Parasram Borkar, who has been with his organisation for five years, has been locked in for at least two more years having availed the employers education sponsorship.

“Every employee is being developed as part of the succession plan,” said the commercial and performance engineer.

“Other candidates within the company are also being sponsored as part of the ongoing function-related training to improve competency.” The company also takes advantage of the knowledge acquired by the staff during their course of study.

“Such an agreement creates a win-win situation for the employer and the employee,” said Razavizadeh.

“When the employee comes to the class they can apply and use lots of real examples in the business model immediately,” he said.

Ansari said his organisation expected him to pass on the information gathered at the B-school and the network developed with other executives in the programme.

“The organisation also sees this as a way to leverage its market standing as more staff members boast higher education degrees,” he said.

Employees get appraised half way through the programme and Bessiso had witnessed students being appreciated and promoted to senior positions.

In the UAE, government organisations work with universities to create sponsorships targeted towards developing a workforce of skilled UAE Nationals. University heads however would like to see more industry collaboration in strengthening the education sector.

The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) recently announced its Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and PhD programmes accredited by Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) that will be offered from this year.

Prof Rob Whelan, president of the campus hopes companies and government agencies will see the importance of sponsoring a senior staff member for the programmes.

“Sponsoring an employee makes it a partnership between the company and university.

“At the doctoral level the student will be doing a research project that will be within the company. So it is a great opportunity for the academic faculty members at the university and the student and the organisation to work as a triangular team to devote a lot of brain power to a business problem.”

Cass launched a scholarship fund last month encouraging individuals and companies to contribute in supporting local students and boosting entrepreneurship in the region.

“The idea is to receive donation funds from big corporations and private institutions and individuals to train talented managers who cannot afford to pay for an MBA and this way they can have a proper career progression in the future,” Razavizadeh, said.

afshan@khaleejtimes.com