- Dubai billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor calls for stronger practical, hands-on education to bridge the gap between classrooms and real-world skills
- Al Habtoor Group to expand workplace mentorships and training access for students across engineering, law, hospitality and service sectors
- Business leader warns of declining Arabic use among youth, urging schools to reinforce language education to protect cultural identity
Dubai billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor is urging the UAE to put much more emphasis on practical and hands-on education, rather than merely academic qualifications, as a means of preparing youngsters for the modern workforce. During an 'Open Talk' at the head office of the Al Habtoor Group, the founder and chairman of one of the UAE’s biggest business conglomerates focused on what he described as the critical gap between class learning and real-world skills.
Too many students graduate, he said, without the basic work experience required to successfully enter professional careers in key technical and service-driven verticals. To illustrate his point, Al Habtoor said his own son, after attaining a degree in hotel management, started his career in housekeeping. He washed dishes and handled other simple operational tasks before growing into a mid-career position.
This, he claimed, made his son well versed in all aspects of hotel operations from the very bottom upwards a philosophy he thinks should be extended into every field. “If I want to teach him engineering, I will take him to a site where he can have practical experience”, he said, underlining that no professional can perform well without being conversant with the nuts and bolts of his trade. Book knowledge is useful, he said, only when supported by real applications.
The Al Habtoor Group has traditionally integrated this practical experience into its ecosystem, with interests spanning the hospitality, real estate, automotive services, education, and publishing sectors, standing out as a big employer in the UAE. Al Habtoor said the company will continue to grant students in such courses as engineering and law access to its premises for mentorship and exposure in the workplace to develop their competencies.
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This befits the wider national conversation that is gaining momentum on how best to improve the UAE's education-to-employment pipeline through academia-industry partnerships. The billionaire businessman is also widely known for his philanthropy. He has donated over Dh2 billion to charitable causes; a majority of it goes to educational causes. In 2023, he launched a scholarship program supporting 100 Afghan female students, offering them tuition, housing, and health insurance to pursue their higher education in the UAE.
His charitable initiatives continue to extend support towards various institutions that require practical training placements for their students-a long-espoused tenet of education reform and empowerment. During the discussion, Al Habtoor also expressed deep concern about the declining use of the Arabic language among younger generations in the region. He lamented that many Arab children now communicate primarily in English, often responding in English even when spoken to in Arabic by their grandparents.
He warned that this trend threatens to remove the young people from their roots and their history and identity. He emphasized that schools bear the responsibility for strengthening Arabic language education and that he supports all initiatives meant for the protection and promotion of the language fully.
