Dubai: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) will focus on Arabic this year during its teacher-led workshops and presentations, the authority announced on Tuesday.
Time and time again, private schools in Dubai have underperformed in Arabic during annual inspections conducted by the authority.
The latest inspections found that almost three-quarters of schools had shortcomings in Arabic as a first and additional language.
The report read: “Approaches to teaching and learning in Arabic were too often repetitive and did not motivate or engage students.”
When asked why some schools have problems improving student’s attainment in Arabic, Darryl Bloud, Brand Director Education at GEMS, said recruiting good Arabic teachers can be challenging for schools.
“Finding and recruiting good Arabic teachers who speak both Arabic and English can be difficult. We found that recruiting teachers from countries like Lebanon and Jordan is ideal. But some schools opt to hire people from the local market.”
Bloud, who was the former principal of Dubai Modern School, said schools recruit native English speakers from abroad, so why don’t they do the same when it comes to Arabic teachers.
In order to provide teachers with innovative and new methods in teaching arabic, KHDA said the event ‘What Works’, that provides educators with a platform to exchange ideas through teacher-led presentations and workshops, will focus on Arabic.
“‘What Works’ will focus on sharing positive experiences in Arabic,” said Hind Al Mualla, the Chief of Engagement at KHDA. In addition to Arabic, Hind said, ‘What Works’, which will take place on September 29, will also focus on maths, science, student involvement and creativity. She said the event had 90 per cent positive feedback from teachers who said they benefited from What Works.
Ashok Kumar, CEO of Indian High School, said ‘What Works’ has helped his school improve students’ attainment in Arabic at his school.
“Four years back, teachers used to pick up a book required by the ministry and teach it from page to page. Students were then examined with the same material they took in class and so would get full grades, but in reality they did not learn anything.”
While attending ‘What Works’, Kumar said a teacher suggested preparing a sheet that taught students Arabic that they would use in day to day life as a more effective tool to improve their Arabic. “Their grades are no longer excellent but they have a better attainment in the language and have learned phrases needed to converse in real life.”
In addition to improving Arabic, another report published earlier this year by KHDA said private schools in Dubai must raise pupils’ performance levels in maths and science if they plan on meeting the UAE’s national agenda goals by 2021.
The national agenda aims to improve UAE students’ performance in international assessment tests — in TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) by 2021.
Christopher McDermott, Principal at GEMS International School, said recruiting good teachers has a big role in fulfilling the country’s national goals of improving the quality of education.
“The quality of education is only as good as the teachers. Recruitment of teachers should be rigorous. Once the right teacher is recruited, schools must make sure that there as a system that works,” he said.
