Educating for success

The UAE's growth centres around educating its people

Abdulla Al Ghurair believed the future prosperity of his nation rested on the one thing he was denied during his youth: a good education. And so, by investing in schools and universities, he sought to reshape the pathways for a future generation of UAE and Arab youth and help develop and uplift the region.

"It is through education that we will effectively tackle inequality, enabling youth from low-income families to fulfil their individual potential and to help their communities thrive."

Abdulla Al Ghurair

In the early years of the twentieth century, education in what is now the UAE (but formerly the Trucial States) was based around the Katateeb system. First established in Saudi Arabia, this saw children being taught basic science, maths, and Quranic reading in mosques by religious authorities known as mutawaa. By the 1960s, this religious-style of education had largely been replaced by a more formalised approach driven by neighbouring Kuwait, which gained its independence in 1961. In addition to sending teachers and materials to the six Sheikhdoms that would eventually become the UAE, many students at that time travelled to Kuwait to take their final exams.

With independence in 1971, the UAE formed its own national education system and before long, primary education would become mandatory for all Emirati boys and girls.

Abdul Aziz as a boy pictured with his father, Abdulla Al Ghurair.

"I think it's because my father did not finish his secondary education that he wanted to give us - his sons and daughters - the opportunity to attain a university degree."

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair

Abdulla Al Ghurair could see that education was the best way to deliver progression and growth for his country and so he began to build and fund schools in Dubai, the wider UAE, and even further afield. He was investing in the future, while fulfilling the wishes of his past.

Abdul Aziz, his siblings, and several of their peers personally benefited from Abdulla's passion for education, which involved paying for overseas studies. Abdul Aziz secured an Honours' Degree in Industrial Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, for example, while his brothers Rashid and Sultan graduated from Suffolk University, Boston.

Education was always very important to Abdulla Al Ghurair, recalls one of his sons, Sultan.

"He cared so much about education that he sent me and my brother and two of our friends to the US,” Abdul Aziz explains. “Although none of us spoke English at the time, we enrolled in an English course thanks to the help of the Kuwaiti embassy. He took the risk to send us to the US at a time when we had no counsellors, embassy, or cultural attachés. But thankfully, we got our degrees and benefited."

Setting himself apart from his more conservative peers, Abdulla also believed strongly in educating girls, including his own daughters. Abdul Aziz recalls: "I remember it was my sister's dream to study medicine, so our father sent her to Pakistan to stay with a family we know to study medicine. She graduated as a doctor from Pakistan. It was a very difficult decision in the 70s to send girls abroad to study, but my father got past this barrier. He said that he is ready to break this rule for the sake of education and that he is ready to send his sons and daughters anywhere to receive the best education in the region."

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair explains how his father's education philanthropy began at the grassroots level but soon grew into something more structured and impactful.

Giving faith

Faith has always been central to regional philanthropy

Zakat is a pillar of Islam that obliges observant Muslims to give 2.5 percent of the total value of their wealth each year to the less fortunate.In some Islamic countries, including Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Zakat is collected by the state. Elsewhere, Muslims can choose to donate funds to the mosque, to charities, or directly to needy individuals. Voluntary charity beyond the 2.5 percent is referred to as Sadaqah.

Alleviating hunger, poverty and inequality, promoting peace and protecting the environment are central to the core Islamic principles known as the Maqasid Shariah. The Quran identifies eight categories of eligible use for Zakat, including helping the poor and needy, refugees and displaced people and liberating those in bondage. An underlying philosophy of Zakat embodies socially responsible development and promotes self-reliance among its recipients. The true value of global Zakat is unknown but is estimated to be anywhere between US$200bn to US$1trillion, according to a UNDP estimate.

Abdulla's faith was a key driver in his giving and his adherence to the values and responsibilities of Islam was part of what inspired him to establish one of the UAE's first, and the region's largest philanthropic foundations.