UAE eases education norms for Asians

The UAE government has scrapped a controversial rule that said unskilled Asian expatriate workers must have high school certificates as a minimum requirement to work in the country.

"Workers in all sectors are no longer required to hold a high school certificate," according to a Cabinet decision.

The rule, introduced in May 2003, made it obligatory for unskilled expats seeking jobs in the private sector to hold at least a high school certificate or an equivalent degree.

"The Cabinet has okayed a memorandum raised by the ministry of labour and social affairs recommending the waiving of the academic qualification as a pre-requisite for employment for the mentioned category," the Khaleej Times quoted an ministry official as saying on Monday.

"Another undesired result was the emergence of forged academic certificates and fake attestation of academic decrees," added the official.

Earlier, private firms operating in the country were not allowed to recruit Asians who did not have the certificate or its equivalent, into the labour force. It exempted labourers in the construction, oil and power sectors and Arab workers.

The decision, however, said the criterion would continue to apply for professionals such as doctors, engineers, pharmacists, whose jobs require a minimum qualification.

Dr Ahmad Saif Bel Hasa, chairman of the UAE Contractors' Association, said the high school certificate requirement had opened the doors to corruption and forgery.

"Businessmen used to buy these certificates. It was not possible to apply the rule. The Cabinet was right in scrapping it because companies can now select the type of workers they need," he said.