ABSTRACT

Building on the previous discussions, this chapter presents the future of education in general and English language education in particular in the Arabian Gulf countries.It argues that the education sectors in the GCC region will continue to be attacked and unfairly blamed for socioeconomic crisis such as the ‘high rate of unemployment’, ‘poor command of English’ and ‘poor technical/vocational skills’ among youth Gulf citizens, while the impact of globalisation, cultural politics and the exploitative practices of the world market will continue to be overlooked. It also contends that the region will witness a new marriage between the ‘governments’ and the ‘private sectors’ in the presence of top officials, corporate bodies, investors, international universities, and elite international organisations and financial institutions (e.g., IMF, World Bank). Crucially, the market will become “the site of the veridiction” (Oksala, 2013, p. 53) as well as of validation of what good educational practices are.