Education in the United Arab Emirates
Encyclopedia
Provision of quality education in the United Arab Emirates began shortly after the establishment of the federation with the inception of the first university in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates University. Since then, the country has progressed with efforts of ensuring high literacy rates, modern programs and women’s share in education. The UAE currently devotes approximately 25 percent of total federal government spending
to education
. The overall literacy rate is 91%.
is free for male and female citizen children through the university level. Beginning in the academic year 2006–7, expatriate
students may, for a fee, attend government schools. The UAE has one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios (15:1) in the world. Education is compulsory through the ninth grade, although, according to the U.S. Department of State, this requirement is not enforced. Citizen children are required to attend gender-segregated schools through the sixth grade, the last grade of primary education. Primary school enrollment for males in 2006 stood at 85% and 82% of females. 97% of entrants reached the 5th grade. Secondary school enrollment figures remained lower at 62% for males although higher for females at 66%. In 2004–5 approximately 9.9 percent of students in grades one through five and 8.3 percent of students in grades six through nine did not complete their education; this rate rose to 9.3 percent in grades 10–12. According to the CIA World Factbook, total literacy under 15 years in 2003 reached 77.9% Between the ages of 15-24, males reached 98% literacy and women 96%.
In 2005, the United Nations Programme on Governance in the Arab Region rated the UAE a .79 on its Education Index
. The Programme defines the Index as, “One of the three indices on which the human development index is build. It is based on the adult literacy rate and the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools. Regionally, the countries scoring higher included the Occupied Palestinian Territories at .89; Libya, Lebanon and Kuwait at .87; Jordan and Bahrain at .86; and Saudi Arabia at .80. All of the countries ranked in the index reported a significantly higher number of phones per population than internet users, with the UAE claiming one hundred twenty eight versus twenty-nine. Internationally, the country with the highest rating was Australia with a .99 while Burkina Faso stood lowest at .27.
Despite not being among the highest rated on the Education Index, the UAE has made regionally significant achievements in ensuring women’s access to education. UNDP’s Millennium Development Goal No. 3, to “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women” has reached its targeted levels of female participation in primary education and continues to increase. (See Women in the United Arab Emirates
)
for mathematics
and integrated science
was introduced at first-grade level for the 2003–4 academic year in all government schools.
Recognizing a constant need for progress, the UAE has sought to implement and monitor high quality education standards by undertaking new policies, programs and initiatives. Throughout the Middle East, educational advancement is often impeded by insufficient focus on the English language, inadequate provision of technology as well as modern techniques of instruction and methodology. Stressing the importance of “modern curricula with assorted and non-monotonous means of training and evaluation”, the Emirates launched ambitious campaigns to develop each of these areas. At its foundation, lies the necessary funding, which in 2009 was earmarked at 7.4 billion dirhams ($2 billion), as well as increased teacher training. Through its Teachers of the 21st Century and a two hundred million dirham share of this budget, the UAE hopes to train 10,000 public school teachers within the next five years, while also pursuing its scheduled goal of reaching 90% Emiratisation of its staff by 2020.
In addition, the UAE government believes that a poor grasp of English
is one of the main employment
barriers for UAE nationals; as a first remedial step, the Abu Dhabi Education Council is developing an elementary school pilot program with Zayed University
, which it hopes to extend to all schools in the emirate, to enhance student English language skills. In February 2006, the prime minister directed the education minister to take initial steps toward improving the quality of education, including the provision of permanent classrooms, computer lab
oratories, and modern facilities. In April 2007, however, in a major policy speech to the nation, the UAE vice president and prime minister stated that despite the steady increase in the education budget
over the previous 20 years, teaching methods and curricula were obsolete, and the education system as a whole was weak. He demanded that the ministers of education and higher education work to find innovative and comprehensive solutions.
In early 2008, the UAE’s Ministry of Education launched a Mentoring Programme which assigns Western principals to 50 of 735 public schools across the UAE in an effort to modernize instructional strategies and implement Western methods of learning. Participating instructors emphasize necessity of deviating from the traditional methods of passive memorization and rote learning instead of encouraging active student participation.
level, numerous institutions are available to the student body. In 1976, UAE University (UAEU) was established in Al Ayn in Abu Dhabi
. Consisting of nine colleges, it is considered by the UAE government to be the leading teaching and research institution in the country. More than 14,000 students were enrolled at UAEU in the first semester of the academic year 2006–7. In 1988 the first four Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) were opened. In the academic year 2005–6, 12 campus
es offered more than 75 programs, with a combined enrollment of 15,000 men and women. The commercial arm of the HCT, the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, is allied with multinational companies to provide training courses and professional development
. In 1998 Zayed University was opened for women with campuses in Abu Dhabi
and Dubai
. A new US$100.7 million campus in Dubai opened in 2006.
While the American University in Dubai
opened its doors in 1995 to join the successful ranks of its much older regional counterparts in Cairo and Beirut, more recently, several international universities enjoying a presence in the Emirates include Tufts University and George Mason University in Ras Al Khaimah; Michigan State University and Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai. New York University (NYU) is set to open alongside the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2010. After a distinguished seven hundred year history, in 2006 the UAE became home to Sorbonne’s first campus abroad. Although its focus is largely on the arts and humanities, Emirati students attending international universities locally, commonly concentrate on business, science, engineering and computers programs.
For the first time in the UAE the first medical school Gulf Medical University was set to open in 1998 for both genders of all nationalities. Formerly known as Gulf Medical College
. In 2008 it expanded its campus and programs to include dentistry, pharmacy and other programs in association with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
.
Gulf Medical University is based in the Emirate of Ajman
.
In 2003 Dubai established a dedicated education zone, Dubai Knowledge Village
, based at Dubai Internet City
. The 1 km long campus brings together globally recognized international universities, training centers, e-learning
, and research and development
companies in one location. As of early 2007, it had attracted 16 international university partners, which include Saint-Petersburg State, University of Engineering and Economics, University of Wollongong, Mahatma Gandhi University, and the Manchester Business School.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the government ministry concerned with higher education. The Commission for Academic Accreditation
(CAA), a department in the Ministry, licenses instititions and accredits degree programmes. bnk
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
to education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. The overall literacy rate is 91%.
Basic education
Public educationPublic education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
is free for male and female citizen children through the university level. Beginning in the academic year 2006–7, expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
students may, for a fee, attend government schools. The UAE has one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios (15:1) in the world. Education is compulsory through the ninth grade, although, according to the U.S. Department of State, this requirement is not enforced. Citizen children are required to attend gender-segregated schools through the sixth grade, the last grade of primary education. Primary school enrollment for males in 2006 stood at 85% and 82% of females. 97% of entrants reached the 5th grade. Secondary school enrollment figures remained lower at 62% for males although higher for females at 66%. In 2004–5 approximately 9.9 percent of students in grades one through five and 8.3 percent of students in grades six through nine did not complete their education; this rate rose to 9.3 percent in grades 10–12. According to the CIA World Factbook, total literacy under 15 years in 2003 reached 77.9% Between the ages of 15-24, males reached 98% literacy and women 96%.
In 2005, the United Nations Programme on Governance in the Arab Region rated the UAE a .79 on its Education Index
Education Index
This article contains information based on the pre-2010 Human Development Reports. The HDI and its education component have changed in 2010.The United Nations publishes a Human Development Index every year, which consists of the Education index, GDP Index and Life Expectancy Index...
. The Programme defines the Index as, “One of the three indices on which the human development index is build. It is based on the adult literacy rate and the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools. Regionally, the countries scoring higher included the Occupied Palestinian Territories at .89; Libya, Lebanon and Kuwait at .87; Jordan and Bahrain at .86; and Saudi Arabia at .80. All of the countries ranked in the index reported a significantly higher number of phones per population than internet users, with the UAE claiming one hundred twenty eight versus twenty-nine. Internationally, the country with the highest rating was Australia with a .99 while Burkina Faso stood lowest at .27.
Despite not being among the highest rated on the Education Index, the UAE has made regionally significant achievements in ensuring women’s access to education. UNDP’s Millennium Development Goal No. 3, to “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women” has reached its targeted levels of female participation in primary education and continues to increase. (See Women in the United Arab Emirates
Women in the United Arab Emirates
The role of women in the United Arab Emirates has advanced greatly in recent years, making the UAE a leader in women's rights in the Arab world. Though there were few opportunities for women outside the home before 1960, the discovery of oil led to advancement in women's position...
)
Development program
The Ministry of Education has adopted “Education 2020,” a series of five-year plans designed to introduce advanced education techniques, improve innovative skills, and focus more on the self-learning abilities of students. As part of this program, an enhanced curriculumCurriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
for mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and integrated science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
was introduced at first-grade level for the 2003–4 academic year in all government schools.
Recognizing a constant need for progress, the UAE has sought to implement and monitor high quality education standards by undertaking new policies, programs and initiatives. Throughout the Middle East, educational advancement is often impeded by insufficient focus on the English language, inadequate provision of technology as well as modern techniques of instruction and methodology. Stressing the importance of “modern curricula with assorted and non-monotonous means of training and evaluation”, the Emirates launched ambitious campaigns to develop each of these areas. At its foundation, lies the necessary funding, which in 2009 was earmarked at 7.4 billion dirhams ($2 billion), as well as increased teacher training. Through its Teachers of the 21st Century and a two hundred million dirham share of this budget, the UAE hopes to train 10,000 public school teachers within the next five years, while also pursuing its scheduled goal of reaching 90% Emiratisation of its staff by 2020.
In addition, the UAE government believes that a poor grasp of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is one of the main employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
barriers for UAE nationals; as a first remedial step, the Abu Dhabi Education Council is developing an elementary school pilot program with Zayed University
Zayed University
Zayed University , established in 1998, is the newest of the three government sponsored higher educational institutions in the United Arab Emirates. The other two institutions are the Higher Colleges of Technology established in 1988 and the United Arab Emirates University established in 1976...
, which it hopes to extend to all schools in the emirate, to enhance student English language skills. In February 2006, the prime minister directed the education minister to take initial steps toward improving the quality of education, including the provision of permanent classrooms, computer lab
Computer lab
A computer lab, also known as a computer suite or computer cluster is typically a room which contains many networked computers for public use...
oratories, and modern facilities. In April 2007, however, in a major policy speech to the nation, the UAE vice president and prime minister stated that despite the steady increase in the education budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
over the previous 20 years, teaching methods and curricula were obsolete, and the education system as a whole was weak. He demanded that the ministers of education and higher education work to find innovative and comprehensive solutions.
In early 2008, the UAE’s Ministry of Education launched a Mentoring Programme which assigns Western principals to 50 of 735 public schools across the UAE in an effort to modernize instructional strategies and implement Western methods of learning. Participating instructors emphasize necessity of deviating from the traditional methods of passive memorization and rote learning instead of encouraging active student participation.
Higher education
At the higher educationHigher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
level, numerous institutions are available to the student body. In 1976, UAE University (UAEU) was established in Al Ayn in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
. Consisting of nine colleges, it is considered by the UAE government to be the leading teaching and research institution in the country. More than 14,000 students were enrolled at UAEU in the first semester of the academic year 2006–7. In 1988 the first four Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) were opened. In the academic year 2005–6, 12 campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
es offered more than 75 programs, with a combined enrollment of 15,000 men and women. The commercial arm of the HCT, the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, is allied with multinational companies to provide training courses and professional development
Professional development
Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning...
. In 1998 Zayed University was opened for women with campuses in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
and Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. A new US$100.7 million campus in Dubai opened in 2006.
While the American University in Dubai
American University in Dubai
The American University in Dubai is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, founded in 1995. AUD was founded in 1995 as a branch campus of the American InterContinental University in Atlanta, Georgia, but turned into a private, non-sectarian...
opened its doors in 1995 to join the successful ranks of its much older regional counterparts in Cairo and Beirut, more recently, several international universities enjoying a presence in the Emirates include Tufts University and George Mason University in Ras Al Khaimah; Michigan State University and Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai. New York University (NYU) is set to open alongside the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2010. After a distinguished seven hundred year history, in 2006 the UAE became home to Sorbonne’s first campus abroad. Although its focus is largely on the arts and humanities, Emirati students attending international universities locally, commonly concentrate on business, science, engineering and computers programs.
For the first time in the UAE the first medical school Gulf Medical University was set to open in 1998 for both genders of all nationalities. Formerly known as Gulf Medical College
Gulf Medical College
Gulf Medical University is based in Ajman. The college offers M.B.B.S., Bachelor of Physiotherapy, Pharm D and DMD undergraduate programs in addition to postgraduate and residency programs. Gulf Medical University is the first medical school in the region to offer admission to both males and...
. In 2008 it expanded its campus and programs to include dentistry, pharmacy and other programs in association with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
The Royal Australian College Of General Practitioners is the professional body for General Practitioners in Australia.The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian...
.
Gulf Medical University is based in the Emirate of Ajman
Ajman
Ajman , also spelt Ujman, is one of the seven emirates constituting the United Arab Emirates . With an area of just 260 square kilometres , Ajman is the smallest emirate by area...
.
In 2003 Dubai established a dedicated education zone, Dubai Knowledge Village
Dubai Knowledge Village
Dubai Knowledge Village is a educational free trade zone campus in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that provides facilities for training and learning institutions to operate with 100% foreign ownership. There are over 400 institutions operating within it, which include universities,...
, based at Dubai Internet City
Dubai Internet City
Dubai Internet City is an information technology park created by the government of Dubai as a free economic zone and a strategic base for companies targeting regional emerging markets. The economic rules of DIC allow companies to avail themselves of a number of ownership, taxation and custom...
. The 1 km long campus brings together globally recognized international universities, training centers, e-learning
E-learning
E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process...
, and research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
companies in one location. As of early 2007, it had attracted 16 international university partners, which include Saint-Petersburg State, University of Engineering and Economics, University of Wollongong, Mahatma Gandhi University, and the Manchester Business School.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the government ministry concerned with higher education. The Commission for Academic Accreditation
Commission for Academic Accreditation
The Commission for Academic Accreditation is the government-run institutional licensure and degree accreditation organization for private universities and their academic programmes in the United Arab Emirates . It was established in 1999, with headquarters in UAE's capital city Abu Dhabi, and is a...
(CAA), a department in the Ministry, licenses instititions and accredits degree programmes. bnk
See also
External links
- TEN Education
- Public School Insights interview with UAE Education Minister Dr Hanif Hassan Posted October 6, 2008