Action needed, now
Action needed, now
Academic Abdullah Al Shaiba on a national survey identifying the 11 challenges facing education and how they can be overcome
Throughout the last three decades, education has been among the top priorities of UAE decision makers. Since the 1970s, several policies and strategies have been set up to improve educational conditions.
These plans have been based on clear guidelines, which continue to make education available for everyone. The final goal is to create ideal citizens who will contribute to the development of the UAE.
Drop in illiteracy
The government has been very successful in this direction. One of the internationally accredited results of this success is the drop in adult illiteracy from 48 per cent in 1970 to well below 23 per cent in 2004.
In addition, female and male ratios at the various educational stages increased from 80 per cent in 1975 to over 100 per cent in 2004, as per information released by the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority or Tanmia this year.
However, debates have been continuing about issues such as the performance of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and its programmes to improve education; and whether the results of education (graduates and programmes) meet the requirements of the national economy.
Comprehensive survey
The MoE, under the leadership of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister of Education, has conducted a comprehensive national survey.
It was divided into two stages: diagnostic and proposals regarding strategy. While the first stage has identified 11 challenges that have been blocking the development of education, the second stage has created a 'revolutionary' process, which, if implemented, will put the UAE among the leading countries in education.
Critical stage
Shaikh Nahyan has emphasised that the number of UAE nationals who finish high school and apply to higher education institutions is set to grow considerably after 10 years.
There might be approximately 45,000 students with an increase of about 11,000 students.
Education in general has thus reached a critical stage. What is needed is strong political and social support to face its challenges.
The MoE, through its survey has indicated the need for a national strategy that will remedy most educational problems.
The 11 challenges
- Inappropriate curriculum that does not pose a national vision.
- Ineffective teaching methods that do not improve student skills.
- Exam system is not well-developed because it encourages students to memorise, not learn.
- Very weak use of advanced IT and computers.
- School libraries and labs are very few and poor in content and equipment
- Short duration of both the academic day and year.
- Poor discipline among students
- Most school buildings are badly designed. No regular maintenance. Sports and cultural facilities are almost nonexistent.
- Instructors' salaries are low and they face miserable living conditions. The number of teachers is not enough.
- Organisational structures and school management regulations are ineffective and greatly centralised.
- Educational budgets are very low. The major part of the MoE expenditure is allocated to salaries without sufficient financial resources for other important programmes and activities.
What it has led to
- n All this has created a serious crisis for UAE education in general, and higher education in particular. On the one hand, the current educational structure does not have clear or pre-set goals.
It also does not follow the international standards in terms of validating student performance, which has caused a gap between the outcomes of education and the requirements of a knowledge-based economy. Insufficient budgets are another issue.
The results are the following:
- The limitation in scientific degrees and specialisations offered.
- Gap between the results of higher education and the requirements of the UAE labour market.
- The very slow development of academic programmes and university facilities.
- Faculty members are assigned too many tasks while their salaries and allowances are low compared to their counterparts abroad
- The postgraduate programmes are very limited due to financial restraints.
- The very low budget dedicated to scientific research.
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