Eaton Business School has established itself as one of the most sought-after institutions for working professionals across the world. The Academic programmes and peer learning opportunities at EBS has now become a quite popular “Work-Life-Study” programme for the busy working executives in Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia to upskill themselves and climb up their career ladder.
News Highlights:
- The e-learning market in GCC countries will grow at 11 percent from 2021 to US$569.04 million in 2025;
- The global online education market will reach US$585.48 billion by 2027, from US$269.87 billion in 2021;
- The number of international degree-seeking students in the UAE witnessed a spike from 48,653 in 2011 to 77,463 in 2016 according to data from UNESCO.
- Westford Education Group employs around 350 professionals. Since inception, the Group has successfully assisted more than 15,000 learners from more than 130 countries, making it the most cosmopolitan and global educational institution in the Middle East.
As many as 130 international learners received Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA degree from Guglielmo Marconi University through UAE-based leading online educational institution Eaton Business School at a well-organised Convocation ceremony held yesterday, March 29, 2022, attended by senior officials – who flew in from Italy to award the degrees to the new batch of MBAs.
They will join more than 500 MBA alumnus who have already received their degrees over the last five years, since the establishment of Eaton Business School.
Eaton Business School, a premium online educational institution affiliated to a number of British and European universities and accredited by Italy-based Guglielmo Marconi University (GMU), was set up in 2017 to cater to the growing needs of successful business leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals who seek excellence in their career and business through advanced learning and upskilling to attain higher objectives and leading their organisations more effectively.
Most learners – who are successful in their professional career – belong to countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe – take up the MBA curriculum to not only upgrade their knowledge, upskill themselves, but also get new direction in their career and lives through networking with other industry professionals around the world. This way, Eaton Business School attracts a lot of foreign students and therefore strengthens the UAE’s position as a leading global learning hub – where new ideas and innovations would flourish.
Congratulating the learners for successfully obtaining their MBA degree, Alessio Acomanni, President and Director-General of GMU, said, “I am extremely happy to see the successful learners who can now chart a new chapter in their careers and scale new heights in life. Our partnership with Eaton Business School is very significant and we are confident this partnership will help change lives of more and more working professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders – who will be able to lead their teams from the front and drive the change towards a more digital and equitable world.
“I am confident that more and more learners will join our educational eco-system to get the maximum benefit from it that will help them to scale new heights and gain more achievements in career and life.”
The UAE’s education market was valued at Dh19 billion (US$5.2 billion) in 2019 and was estimated to grow by 8.3 percent annually, according to a research report. The online education segment was valued at Dh3 billion (US$854 million) in 2019 and was initially estimated to reach Dh4.7 billion (US$1.3 billion) by 2023 at a CAGR of 15.2 percent. The segment was expected to showcase a stronger growth, primarily due to COVID-19 pandemic that impacted the movement of students in the country.
The UAE has become a favourite among international students for multiple reasons, the first being the freedom to choose between educational institutions. The country, interestingly, is home to 60 globally respected international university campuses, the largest number anywhere in the world.
The UAE, which used to export undergraduate and graduate students to United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada, Australia and Europe, now attracts more international students to its growing number of campuses, than the number of students going to other countries, earning valuable foreign currency.
The number of international degree-seeking students in the UAE witnessed a spike from 48,653 in 2011 to 77,463 in 2016 according to data from UNESCO. E-learning in the UAE is growing at a CAGR of 10.3 percent. The UAE online education and e-learning market is expected to experience high growth on the back of increasing government investment to digitalise the education sector and faster adaptability and positive student attitude towards e-learning.
Working professionals from varied business areas including supply chain, business analytics, finance, healthcare, project management and human resources are the major target group. The courses are applicable to anyone who want to progress in their careers, upscale themselves, grow in their companies, and can also be used for immigration purposes. The programmes are also applicable to people who want to network with other professionals across the world.
Firoz Thairinil, Chief Executive Officer of Westford Education Group, the parent company of Eaton Business School, says, “We have successfully transformed the UAE as a regional education hub where international students now come to seek knowledge, upskill themselves to be able to take control of their future career path. Now the UAE imparts knowledge to more international students by attracting them, compared to the number of students who leave the UAE for higher studies to other countries.
“This has been possible due to the great Vision of the UAE Government to transform the country into a knowledge hub and to create a knowledge economy in future. We are happy to play a role in this, by creating a large education group that has changed the lives of more than 15,000 international students who have joined our institutions so far.”
The e-learning market in GCC countries will grow at 11 percent to US$569.04 million in 2025, according to Technavio, a global consultancy firm. More than 65 percent of the Middle East’s private educational institutions are willing to adopt online / hybrid educational services.
“Students, aspiring for quality education at affordable cost, in great numbers have been flocking to Dubai which has emerged as a global hotspot for higher education. This is more so in the engineering and technology streams where the demand-supply gap is huge. Citing UNESCO statistics experts confirm that inbound student mobility to the UAE seeking higher education has been growing with enormous speed,” a recent report by Times of India, said.
“Even as they cite Dubai’s top-class infrastructure, experts also hail its generous visa policy. Students doing post-graduation have been allowed to take up part-time work since 2016 for designated employers. Besides extending one-year residency for foreign university graduates, exceptionally talented students also get a 10-year residency while others are provided a five-year visa.”
Rise in the economy of the Middle East region due to huge investments in the expansion of corporate sector will make it easy for increasing awareness on e-learning educational and training programmes. Promotion of digitisation of learning and training by providing electronic gadgets to the people by the government authorities is taking the Middle East region a step ahead in the sector of online education/e-learning.
The global online education market will reach US$585.48 billion by 2027, from US$269.87 billion in 2021, according to Research and Markets, an international market intelligence provider.
“The concept of e-learning is a technology-mediated learning approach of great potential from the educational perspective, and it has been one of the leading research lines of educational technology in the last decades, according to a report by Research and Markets.
Mashrook Ali, Director of Eaton Business School, says, “Learning is a life-long affair that never stops. The valuable experience gathered by our students are invaluable source of education and inspiration to others. Learning is a two-way street. Our learners sometimes bring insightful experience in the classroom that helps our faculty members as well. It has been a great journey for all of us both in terms of teaching and learning – which has become a matter of celebration for all of us.
“The Convocation is a reflection of the hard work put up by the learners and our faculty members who worked day and night to realise the dreams of our valuable learners who studied round the clock – and logging on to classes from different time zones – some of them at very odd times, including at 3:00 am – to upgrade themselves.
“I laud their resolve, their strength and their faith in our ability to help them chart a more successful career path and I wish them all the best in their future course in life. I take this opportunity to congratulate them on their success.”
He said, Eaton Business School has come a long way in the last five years to create a global quality online educational eco-system that is changing the lives of successful career professionals including C-Level business leaders and we are really proud of this achievement.
As a higher educational institution, it follows the most stringent and the best international practice that ensures high-quality education and offers degrees and diplomas that are recognised worldwide. The assignment-based evaluation that are examined by a set of internal and external academic experts, reflects academic integrity.
“As a result, the enrollment into our academic programmes has been multiplying simply due to the word of mouth – and without any marketing or advertising campaign. The decision to join Eaton Business School by learners in different countries is largely influenced by those who have already experienced a change in their careers and lives after completing their studies and obtaining the degree,” he added.
Eaton Business School is playing a great role in attracting international students to the UAE while strengthening the country’s educational tourism portfolio which will continue to enjoy strong growth in the coming years.
