Change is around the corner

Educationist Abdullah Al Shaiba writes about a new strategic shift in UAE education.

There is no doubt that education is on top of the list of strategic priorities for decision makers in the UAE. Some of the major issues that have been at the centre of various debates during the last few years include: the outcomes of both secondary schools and higher education institutions and their suitability to the requirements of the labour market, budget issues, emiratisation and qualifying teachers for the new developments in education, the environment of education, the relationship between the Ministry of Education and both educational zones and local councils of education, promotion issues for teachers, curriculum and the length of the academic day.

The new minister of education, appointed early this year, Dr Hanif Hassan has been very active in dealing with the above issues in addition to his personal site visits to various schools all over the UAE.

Recently, he spoke to a local Arabic newspaper that highlighted his method of managing daily work at the ministry. The minister also presented some essential policies that will be implemented by the ministry in the current academic year.

Ways of interaction

Dr Hanif Hassan has adopted three major ways of communication with both educational staff and the general public. The first is through personal visits to schools and the immediate resolution of problems. This includes his personal intervention in conducting the necessary maintenance of buildings and classrooms, dealing with the shortage in teachers and providing appropriate training courses for teachers.

The second way of interaction is by allocating two days a week to receiving the general public and discussing their educational problems. These days are Sunday in Dubai and Monday in Abu Dhabi at the minister's office.

The third way of communication is through the minister's website through which he studies all the issues raised by academicians and the general public. Besides this, Dr Hassan presents his ideas and new initiatives online to encourage teachers, parents and all individuals to participate in the process of decision-making.

The minister has indicated that there is an obvious gap between the education process in the UAE and similar systems in developed countries and there is also a gap between education as a sector and other developed areas within the UAE. Therefore, this year, the country will witness huge changes and new developments in all fields of education.

Four essential stages

Dr Hassan summarised this new strategic era in four essential stages.

The first is the launching of the new comprehensive evaluation process to all aspects of the Examination System and secondary education will be the first to implement the new vision.

This step will be in parallel to a full national revision of curriculum and teaching methods by specialised teams from the US, Australia, Canada and local experts.

Global teaching documents

This operation might produce a nationwide English-based curriculum in public schools to prepare students for both higher education programmes without enrolling in foundation years and for employment if some secondary-level graduates decide to work. The minister also indicated that the ministry has plans to declare new 'global teaching documents' for Arabic language and Islamic studies.

The second policy is approving the decentralisation process between the ministry and educational zones and schools.

In the meantime, there is a plan to establish education councils in the emirates of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain to work with the other councils in implementing the strategic federal vision of developing education under the supervision of the ministry.

The third major policy is setting up the final proposal of the new personnel cadre that will include all employees of the ministry.

The last development policy is a full review of the condition of school buildings all over the UAE by an American company between September and December of this year.

The minister has also discussed the new process of promoting teachers and school principals and he confirmed the new education budget that will be about Dh5 billion for the new academic year.

KEY QUESTIONS

Personally, I strongly believe that UAE education is about to witness major changes in the next few years.

Besides, I think Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education, has been working hard to enforce his own management style and deal with educational challenges in the 'old-new' agenda.

However, in my view, some of the steps taken by the minister during his field visits to educational institutes in the UAE are the core responsibilities and job descriptions of executive officials in the ministry.

There are some essential questions regarding the points raised by the Minister of Education worth examining. Almost all the issues raised were viewed as the main cornerstones in most development plans implemented by previous Ministers of Education and perhaps the most recent example was the 2020 Vision.

The key questions here are: Why are we still in the first stages of developing education when we are living in the year 2006? What did the old development plans of education achieve? Why do we always deal with the same issues from time to time? Is our education really outdated and have we ignored that almost all our intellectuals and officials were the outcome of that educational system since 1971?

And finally does the UAE, after almost 35 years of existence, have a lack of national potential in education and other fields such as engineering, which can play a major role in the development process?