Arabic to get practical push in Dubai schools

Dubai: Arabic classes will no longer be a mere formality in Dubai as schools across curricula will have to push the envelope and share best practices to make its learning more meaningful from this year.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) which convened a meeting of the school community said on Tuesday the push for Arabic is based on feedback received under its ‘What Works’ programme over the past two years. Besides Arabic, teaching of subjects like maths and science will also receive a boost as will the active involvement of students in the programme.

In a bid to make Arabic learning more practical, Dr Ashok Kumar, CEO, Indian High School said unlike the rote learning of the past, students are incentivised to speak in Arabic in the CBSE curriculum school in several ways. “Our students are given special discounts if they place their orders in Arabic at the school cafeteria. They can score an extra point in a (sports) match i f they speak in Arabic.”

He said the aim of the “immersion” programme is to help expat children speak in the language of the land, not just as a show of respect to the local culture but also to be more empowered in day to day living or in the workplace. To facilitate this, he said IHS and the local Zabeel School have formed a partnership for an Arabic-IT learning exchange programme.

Daryl Bould, brand director, GEMS Education, said schools are now conducting assemblies in Arabic once a week to familiarise students with the spoken language.

Sonia Ben Jaafer of the EduEval Educational Consultancy said teachers will share successful models of teaching to break communication barriers and make lessons more student-centric.

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