Youths put skills ahead of money

A day before the Emiratisation summit 50 students participated in a live voting session; 30 per cent said growth and opportunity is the most important factor when considering a job offer; 20 per cent said learning new skills; while 18 per cent said work environment and culture and only 10 per cent said they would consider salary first.

INJAZ UAE is an organization that aims to build bridges between colleges, universities and the private sector. An employer says we can’t hire Emirates because we can’t give them the salaries and the working hours they demand. So INJAZ takes this opportunity to prove them wrong.

Voting outcomes also showed that students believed working in the private sector would present more demand than government; the main reason about working in the private sector was competition for recognition and promotion; in the government, jobs are dealing with a routine.

Job fairs, career guidance and workshop are ways to help create new perceptions about working in the private sector.

Regrettably, Emirati youth are unaware of the development and opportunities in private sector companies. Then again, private sector employers misguidedly believe that Emirati youth place more importance on the salary, benefits and working hours.

The private sector work environment does not encourage or motivate many youths to work in it but it benefits the youth from the work experience it offers.

Houbara survival

This year IFHC announced they have bred 13,000 Asian Houbara exceeding the target by 3000; it’s a remarkable year. Yet their mission is to spread awareness on sustainable hunting. It’s a big leap from 2,726 chicks bred last year

According to the experts the main reasons for the decline in the houbara population in the UAE is the demolition of its habitat to use the land for the city development. And by over hunting houbara to train falcons .In contrast, falconers will play a big part on houbara’s survival; they use houbaras to train falcons to hunt which it’s not their natural prey in the first place, which makes them highly demanded by falconers; besides the number of falconers has increased and the prices of falcons have decreased.

The best conservation plan is to eliminate the black market for houbara and provide falconers birds officially for training rather than go into the black market, and to educate falconers about the risks that come with this sport.

These issues were all raised at the falconry section of ADIHEX as many people gathered to buy weapons, falcons and even to adopt homeless animals. 

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

How do the coral reefs in Abu Dhabi survive the heat? Does the coral manage to beat the heat by creating a stable local stock of heat-resistant corals or by some genetic development by the generations over thousands of years?

A reef builder has taken samples of hump coral from Abu Dhabi and sent it to a lab to find how they acclimatize and survive in hot water.

A type of algae lives inside the coral’s tissue and produces 90% of its energy by producing sugars, and in return, the coral provides it with shelter and nutrients. In contrast; when the temperature exceeds 35C the algae produce oxygen radicals that damage the coral tissue. To protect itself, the coral essentially spits out the algae. The coral can live up to one week from its reserves then it needs to take back in the algae or it will die.

The coral can reproduce in two ways: through fragmentation or larval production; fragmentation is when a piece of the coral breaks off, rolls across the sand; larval reproduction is when larval float for about a week until they develop the ability to attach themselves to a rocky surface. Once there, they begin secreting their skeleton, becoming the first block of a new colony.