Dubai: The UAE on Tuesday announced a new project to replace final written exams with skill and knowledge based evaluation of some students.
The initiative was announced by the UAE Minister of Education Sarah Bint Yousef Al Amiri at a press conference in Dubai to unveil the preparations for the new academic year in the public schools.
Students attending grade five to eight will be included in the initiative in the new academic year, the minister said.
Speaking to Gulf News later, she explained: “The assessment system in the public schools has been undergoing a revamp to ensure that it provides the right mechanism to give us a reflection of the students’ abilities and to be able to support them with various programmes. As part of that, we have changed the weights of each of the terms based on the outcomes for each term. On top of that, we have replaced, for students in grade five to eight, the final exam term two to be a project. The project not only measures the students’ outcomes in terms of the knowledge that they have, but also measures the skills of the students.”
This means the central exam for Cycle 2 students in the second term has been replaced with a project-based assessment that focuses on skill measurement, and helps students put theoretical knowledge into practice, further enriching their learning outcomes.
New weightings
During the briefing, the minister explained the details of the weightings for the next academic year, noting that they will help in developing students’ academic journeys. The evaluation weightings for students in Cycles 2 and 3 have been modified as follows: 35 per cent for the first term –since it is the longest academic term; 30 per cent for the second term; and 35 per cent for the third term.
She noted that the weightings have been adjusted in accordance with the number of school days and expected outcomes for each term, ensuring a more balanced and indicative evaluation process for students.
Al Amiri also mentioned that for students in Cycles 2 and 3, the Ministry of Education has modified the percentage of the formative assessment to 40 per cent, while setting the percentage for the central assessment conducted at the end of each terms to 60 per cent.
These updates in assessment weightings are based on an analysis of student results, which revealed the importance of continuous assessment and measurement of academic and skill-development outcomes throughout the year, rather than relying solely on end-of-term central exams.
Proactive plans
During the briefing, the minister emphasised that the MoE had put proactive plans in place prior to the conclusion of the previous academic year. These comprehensive plans, developed in close collaboration with relevant entities, were designed to ensure all preparations were completed well in advance of the new academic year and focused on enhancing the school environment, upskilling educators, and improving infrastructure and support services.
The updates include the assessment policy for the weightings of the three terms, and the percentages for formative and central assessments, among other changes.
According to the ministry, these evidence-based policy updates are grounded in best practice, and intended to enhance the quality of educational outcomes, in line with the UAE leadership’s aspirations.
12 new schools
Al Amiri also announced that the Ministry has launched the national back-to-school campaign, titled ‘From Student to Leader.’ This campaign is designed to foster community-wide involvement in supporting students and contributing to the development of future leaders. The campaign focuses on four key pillars: the educational system, teachers, parents, and students
The Minister also announced the opening of 12 new public schools in the new academic year. Additionally, 13 schools are reopening after comprehensive maintenance.
Mohammed Al Qasim, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, said the Ministry is ready to welcome 280,000 students in the public schools on Monday, August 26.
Around 30,000 new students have joined the public schools, he said, citing that the figure is in line with the normal intake of students.
100% ready
“We are 100 per cent ready to receive every single student in our public schools next week for the academic year 2024-2025,” he told Gulf News.
Speaking about the preparations in place for the new academic year, Al Qasim said:
We have around 520 public schools across the UAE—from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah. We usually create a committee in January of each year to look after the reopening of schools. We look at different pillars that are essential for us to open the schools smoothly and safely, for our students and our teachers and the administrative staff. So we look at transportation, we look at maintenance and new buildings. We look at training and recruitment of teachers. We look at catering and ensure that we have healthy catering for our students and the overall efficiency of our operations.”
According to him, a dedicated team of engineers and specialists supervised school maintenance operations to ensure the highest standards of readiness, thus providing a safe and healthy environment for students and educators.
He further highlighted that the Ministry’s teams have successfully completed maintenance operations for 311 schools including buildings, facility upgrades, and quality control of infrastructure across all public schools.
Books, buses ready
Support services included the printing of approximately 10 million textbooks and the conversion of 3,706,000 books have been converted into digital formats, and 10 million copies of printed books have been produced - in line with the Ministry’s efforts to support digital resources in schools.
Additionally, 34,000 laptops will be allocated to students in Grade 5 and 9.
In collaboration with service providers, the Ministry conducted thorough maintenance for all school buses ensuring their adherence to the highest safety standards, with over 5,000 school buses made available this year. Furthermore, school transportation routes were optimised to ensure a smooth and comfortable daily commute for students.
Student wellbeing
With a focus on student wellbeing, the MoE is conducting the largest field survey in the educational sector to date, with the aim of establishing a strategic framework for improving student wellbeing.
Additionally, a comprehensive roster of curricular and extracurricular programmes and activities is being designed, with the activation of over 30 projects in the upcoming academic year to boost students’ cognitive, cultural and social skills. The roster will also include a number of programmes and initiatives designed to create a supportive educational environment for talented students.
It was also announced that, due to the significant positive impact of the Freejna School project following its launch last May, the project will be expanded to include more schools.
Aiming to turn every government school into a community centre after school hours, the project will see students getting trained in science, literature, culture, sports and art.
Additionally, agreements will be signed with specialised local partners to further develop the programme to encompass more sports, scientific and cultural activities.
Sulaiman Al Kaabi, executive director of the Students’ Wellbeing Sector and Dr Omar Al Dhaheri, acting executive director of the Corporate Services Sector also took part in the briefing organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the UAE Government Media Office.
