UAE approves plan to ‘overhaul’ public education

The UAE has revealed plans to “overhaul” the country’s public school education system.

The plan was approved by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Dubai’s ruler His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, official news agency WAM reported.

Developed by the education ministry, the plan aims to revise the school curriculum, introduce new subjects and streams and enhance the evaluation systems both for schools and students.

The new curriculum will cover technology, innovative design, health sciences, career guidance, general skills and business management.

For kindergarden schools, the new plan seeks to develop a new integrated curriculum and a new policy for evaluation of schools that involves parents.

For higher-level classes, syllabuses for subjects such as history, geography, economy and social studies will be integrated into one core curriculum.

International partnerships will also be established to create new mathematics and science textbooks, the report said.

Primary and secondary schools will also introduce a new course on IT and programming.

The English syllabus, which will follow the Cambridge English curriculum, will be overseen by specialists from both the UAE education ministry and Cambridge University, the report added.

A reading programme will also be introduced for students of all grades.

The school curriculum will gradually be made bilingual and have a “specific focus on deepening the students’ national identity” and building their critical thinking and innovation skills, the report stated.

A new system will also be implemented to evaluate students through mid-year and end-of-year exams.

Under the plan, a special ‘elite’ stream to nurture gifted students will also be introduced.

A new training centre focused on developing teachers’ skills will also be developed.

Sheikh Mohammed urged teachers and parents to work together in implementing the school education development plan.

“We are counting on the teachers and the Ministry of Education to help school education make a great leap forward,” he said.

“There is no room for excuses. We look forward to developing a new generation of students that is equipped to use the tools of the future,” he added.