The Federal National Council (FNC) recently confirmed Government plans to work towards an education policy that ensures the preservation of Arabic in the UAE. Following the confirmation, discussions ensued on the practicality of an Arabic education. The use of Arabic is declining in public spaces and with the exception of United Nations, Arabic doesn’t hold global practicality. English is the common language and unless an individual works in a public administration or in diplomacy, Arabic is not a dominant language. Therefore, undoubtedly, the new education policy should promote bilingualism, too.
As an increasing number of students seek higher education abroad, local institutions should undertake the responsibility to provide them with language skills that are necessary to succeed, and that begins with a holistic education policy. I am proposing a bilingual approach such that if the institution offers public education, the primary language should be Arabic but also focus on English as adaptive education and not curriculum-based. Learning a language is arduous and, therefore, I stress on adaptive learning over curriculum-based learning.
As someone who completed private school education in Dubai, I stand as evidence against curriculum-based language learning. That is because the Arabic curriculum taught to non-Arab students is the same curriculum taught to Arab students. Such an approach presumes everyone already maintains an equal understanding of Arabic, which is erroneous. Further on, the Arabic taught is traditional Arabic but what is spoken across the UAE is a unique dialect. Therefore, throughout my schooling years, I learnt nothing useful with respect to Arabic and year after year non-Arab students complete their schooling years with a poor grasp of the language.
Formulating a policy focussing on Arabic education holds the potential to make Arabic the dominant language, so if and when an adaptive, bilingual and holistic policy is formulated and implemented, the students who benefit from such a policy will have Arabic as a common language. Similarly, on the domestic level, this can overcome cultural barriers created through language and misunderstandings caused by semantics. On the international level, those travelling abroad are equipped with English language skills.
- The readers is an Indian PhD-track student based in Dubai