Historically, the driving force behind introducing a formal education system was to enable individuals to become more economically productive. Literate individuals would be able to actively participate in the labor force and therefore contribute greater by assisting in the economic and cultural growth of their society. The role of education from this perspective is that it provides individuals with the skills and qualities needed by industry and the state. Furthermore, education also serves as a means to promote and foster innovative thinking skills, which lend themselves to creative problem solving and also to greater entrepreneurial skills. More recently with technological advances and greater automation of traditional industries, the need for large workforces has significantly diminished. The rise in digital technologies, coupled with drives and initiatives towards globalized trade policies in both the private and public sector, has affected industries across the board in terms of their growth, location, size, success, services etc. This in turn has had an impact on the employment sectors open to the population, the types of jobs that are available, and the types of skills and future skills needed by industry.

The questions that the present economic, and technological changes raise for us as educationalists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is that if it is accepted that the relationship between the state and a citizen is mediated by the process of labor, and if education as an institution is required to serve the needs of the state in relation to the process of labor, we need to understand: firstly, the educational landscape in the UAE; secondly, an understanding of labor market needs in the UAE; and finally, an evaluation as to how compatible the existing educational process is with the current and future labor market needs of the UAE.