RTS Education Vertical
An effective education system needs to understand interest of the student/consumer and connect it with the assignment of his/her choice.
As the organization is in the UAE, specifically Dubai, there are many social benefits to consider as well. UAE will be the world’s first country with near-zero unemployment, which is ensured by the repatriation of redundant workers, but also the professional qualification of all workers. With access to free life-long skill development programs for UAE Citizens, as well as 2 to 4 weeks of free training to all immigrants getting certified yearly, the skillset of all workers will be improved and expanded.
Part of the vision for the organization is to align with a set of values that will dictate the methodology moving forward. The four main values can be summed up with the acronym TRAI, which stands for Transparency, Reliability, Assurance, and Integrity. Transparency denotes an SOP driven organization with strong governance practices that are open to internal and external audits, which will ensure that all aspects of the business are above board. Reliability indicates a focus on quality that builds new platforms based on experience and best practices, in order to consistently meet stakeholder expectations as well. Assurance is the innovation aspect that deals with quickly scaling the co-created systems to ensure stable and consistent competency assessment and certification. Lastly, Integrity deals with a zero-tolerance rule for malpractice with checks and balances to ensure compliance with all rules and regulations. With these values in place, the model for the education system can then be examined.
To give an example of how these values will be enacted in organizational systems, there is the navigated learning system and performance tracking. The navigated learning system will benefit the learners the most, as it allows them to visually track their progress and stay focused on the path they’ve chosen under the supervision of the instructors. However, this system also allows for performance tracking by the leadership and curriculum developers, which gives all stakeholders evidence of the learning to iterate and optimize, but also to collaborate and ensure the targeted output is achieved. This will allow for greater integration with the industry as well, because the performance across the various streams of education can be analyzed and used to secure partnerships.
The institutional model for the organization will rely on an integrated ecosystem that includes academia, governmental funding/certification, industry experience, and social entrepreneurship. The assessments, certifications and qualifications fall under the academia category, and will be dictated by the faculty, trainers and curriculum. However, the industry partners and their experience will grant technical knowledge and support for this curriculum, as well as the training methods, while also opening up cooperative employment opportunities. This then ties in with the social entrepreneurship, as the programs will be implemented with a focus on individual skills and development, so industry connections as well as placement support will allow students to gain practical skills that can be used in their academic studies as well. Finally, the governmental funding and certification is essential, as it grants credibility and a greater outreach for mobilization, as well as ensuring all organizational policies meet the national standard.
Specifically, regarding the academia, a large focus is inclusiveness and integration in the course design. Furthermore, the education will be strongly based on experiential learning, with a practice-oriented pedagogy that denotes 20% theory, 20% life/IT/personality development, and 60% practical skills. This will allow individuals from all skills levels to be developed in many different sectors. For example, uneducated, educated and differently abled individuals could gain many hands-on skills and even a placement, which would allow them to work towards either higher education, or their own entrepreneurship goals. Each student will also be personally enriched by the understanding that all dimensions of their skillset must be addressed and improved. This includes numeracy, literacy, technical skills, professional thinking/behavior, life skills and entrepreneurial skills. By going beyond teaching to training and production, the students will be able to practice what they’ve learned and therefore learn more effectively.
The three phases of learning that will be implemented as part of the training methodology can be denoted as traditional learning, applied learning and action learning. Traditional Learning is when the student is taught technical theory and shown demonstrations and allows them to take notes for their own review. In the second phase, Applied Learning, the students are given the opportunity to attempt what they’ve learned in a hands-on situation to understand the practical elements of doing the job. This is followed by the third phase Action Learning, where students are assessed and given the opportunity to showcase their skills in a real-life application, which will encourage them to collaborate and perform at the highest level to reach their certification goals.
With this vision and methodology in place, the RTS education centre will have a profound impact in Dubai, as local workers will be skilled and trained and new innovations will land in Dubai which will only boost the economy. By focusing on delivering the training in the most efficient and effective steps, all candidates will be given the opportunity to become skilled, employed professionals. Furthermore, the relationship between the organization and the industry will only grow over time as students are counselled and supported to enter the industry with their new skillsets and development.
This entire process will ensure that each manpower in Kuwait as well as UAE will be gainfully employed due to the collaboration with the industry.
