Edufair Abu Dhabi spotlights innovation and global education partnerships

AI and global opportunities take center stage at Edufair Abu Dhabi 2026

Following a successful Dubai edition that attracted more than 7,000 visitors, Edufair returned to Abu Dhabi as families weighed an expanding range of degree programmes, overseas study destinations and career options in a rapidly transforming education sector.

Dr Deepak Mittal, Ambassador of India to the UAE, inaugurated the event alongside the senior management of Gulf News. Dr Mittal visited every booth at the fair to interact with exhibitors.

"Gulf News Edufair helps residents understand the diversity of knowledge systems available in the UAE. It is not just about learning, but also about cultural exposure and understanding different perspectives," said Dr Mittal.

With nearly 200 nationalities living in the UAE, classrooms in the country benefit from a rich mix of cultures and perspectives. This diversity, he noted, "enriches learning, promotes cultural understanding and strengthens a sense of belonging" in a multicultural society like the UAE.

Deepening bilateral education ties

Dr Mittal described education as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the UAE and India, which gained formal structure through the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that came into effect in February 2022. Educational cooperation forms a key component of this broader economic framework.

"I am glad that several Indian higher education institutions, including IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi and the IIM Ahmedabad campus in Dubai, along with other private universities, have opened here and are supporting the education sector," he added.

IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi was inaugurated on September 2, 2024, by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, marking the first international campus of IIT Delhi. The campus started with 60 undergraduate students in its first cohort for the 2024-25 academic year, offering B.Tech programs in Computer Science and Engineering and Energy Engineering, with 30 students admitted to each program.

Similarly, the IIM Ahmedabad Dubai campus was inaugurated on September 11, 2025, by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, establishing the first international campus of the prestigious Indian business school.

From oil economy to innovation economy

The old road from classroom to degree to career has been ripped up and repaved. Today's students navigate shifting terrain, where artificial intelligence rewrites job descriptions, new industries spring up faster than curricula can follow, and opportunity increasingly knows no borders.

"If we invest in innovation now, after 50 years, we will not be depending on oil," said Dr Eesa Al Bastaki, President of the University of Dubai. "We will be depending on innovation."

The University of Dubai, founded in 1997, currently enrolls approximately 1,600 students across more than 26 programs in Business, Law, Engineering and Information Technology, with students representing over 40 nationalities.

He added that in the future students will learn from anywhere, any time and from any faculty on any device, with 24/7 open learning becoming the norm.

The UAE government's commitment to this transformation is evident in its 2026 federal budget, which allocates AED 17.6 billion to public and higher education, representing 19% of total federal expenditure and marking a 61% increase over the AED 10.9 billion allocated in 2025—the largest education budget in the nation's history.

Vijay Vaghela, CEO of Gulf News, said the core of Edufair Abu Dhabi is to embrace AI while pursuing individual goals.

"The core of the future is a combination of using the tools that are available to us to develop and expand our reach across society, and develop everything around us in terms of economy, education, child development," he said.

A booming education sector

The fair provided a one-stop solution to students and parents, exploring options in undergraduate courses, career preparations and study abroad opportunities alongside postgraduate professional courses.

The UAE higher education market was valued at USD 170 million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 898.6 million by 2034, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 19.71%. Dubai's private higher education sector alone enrolled a record 42,026 students across 41 institutions during the 2024-25 academic year, representing a 20% increase from the previous year, with international students comprising 35% of the total and increasing by 29%.

Dubai aims to increase the international student share in its higher education sector to 50% by 2033, as part of the emirate's strategy to position itself as a premier global education destination.

More than 1.277 million students are enrolled across over 1,180 public and private schools in the UAE for the 2026-27 academic year, including 26,700 new students joining the public system.

"Edufair is back in Abu Dhabi. We've got a wide range of really exceptional universities. The future, whether you want to do medicine, engineering, architecture, whatever it is that interests you," said Vijay Vaghela, describing the extensive selection at the fair.

Skills first, careers next

As artificial intelligence, data science and other tech-led fields expand, picking a university now means looking closely at the skills a course builds and the career paths it opens up.

Dr Al Bastaki views the implementation of AI quite differently for the students of this generation. "Human beings will always be there to be at the top because we use our brain randomly. AI uses deterministically," Dr Al Bastaki said.

For students and parents trying to read this fast-changing map, Gulf News Edufair Abu Dhabi gathered universities and a roster of career experts to ask what learning really means today, and what it will take to thrive tomorrow.

"Education sector has developed a lot, leaped to new ways of educating students," said Dr Bastaki.

As the lines between classroom and career continue to blur, Edufair Abu Dhabi gave families a place to ask the right questions before making one of the biggest decisions of a young person's life.