UAE | Education
Developing literacy centres to empower adults
Country now has 89 centres with more than 20,000 students, but most of them drop out, say educators
- By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:03 October 20, 2007
- Students get practical experience at the Dubai Centre for Special Needs.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Buthaina Abdullah Beyat, a 43-year-old Emirati, will soon realise her dream of finally getting an education.
The student at Al Qurtuba Adult Education Centre for women had severe fever at the age of three which paralysed her from the waist down, forcing her to use a wheelchair.
"At that time people were not open to the idea of a person with special needs being enrolled in a school. My mother and my siblings supported me from the beginning but there was little they can do," she said.
The "bookworm" found it difficult enrolling into a regular public school. One school refused, fearing it will have an adverse effect on her as she will be "an outcast among other girls".
A couple of years ago she met a teacher who encouraged her to join the adult education centre as it would help nourish her interests and develop her reading and writing skills.
During her course of study at the centre, she used a desktop computer and went online for the first time and still speaks excitedly of her experience of interacting with people of various backgrounds.
'More attention needed'
She believes that the Ministry of Education does not give enough attention to adult education saying, "it is not fair, we need the same opportunities given to regular schools".
The first academic year of the Adult Education Centre was in 1972, following the establishment of the UAE federal union a year earlier.
Dr Ebtisam Al Khaldi, Head of Research at the Ministry of Education, said that in 1955 adult education courses were run under the supervision of Kuwait, as the federal union was not yet formed. In 1957, Qatar initiated an adult education project, which established Al Ahmadia centre for males.
This was followed by 54 adult education centres under the jurisdiction of the ministry in 1972, with 3,446 male and 1,466 female students, according to Salim Al Ghabar, Manager of Adult Education Department.
In the early 90s significant changes were made in the curriculum, adjusting it specifically for adult students, but only at the primary level. Today, the UAE has 89 adult education centres with about 20,500 students. But most of them drop out due to lack of interest, say educators.
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