If the UAE hopes to compete in a knowledge-based economy, it must make the cultivation of knowledge among its students a national priority. Statistics compiled by the World Bank in its Knowledge Economy Index, placing the UAE 77 out of 132 countries, illustrate the dire need for an overhaul of the nation’s approach to education.
Efforts by the Ministry of Education to introduce a set of nationwide professional standards for public school teachers in the UAE are a proper and much needed response to the state of education in the country.
While investments in education rarely create immediate returns, immediate action is nevertheless required in the UAE. With this in mind, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has sounded the clarion call for an overhaul of the state school system on “every level”. As we report today, reforms to the education system will begin with a dramatic reorganisation of how teachers are trained. The skills required by the modern economy – flexibility, critical thinking and working effectively among different personalities and perspectives – cannot be learnt through rote memorisation alone. Only teachers who are both well trained and passionate about what they teach will be able to bring concepts alive in the minds of their students.
Teachers have an enormous responsibility in inspiring the next generation of innovators, leaders and citizens of this nation and the UAE’s focus on teacher training will help to update our public education system to an international standard to ensure that our nation’s next four decades can be as fruitful as the last.
Certainly more is required of teachers, but the work of parents to reinforce these reforms at home is just as important. There is already Dh7 billion allocated for education in the UAE. No sum of money, or properly implemented series of educational reforms, can take the place of families who value the life of the mind in their homes. Government reforms will have their full effect on the minds of students only if families reinforce them through valuing discussion, reading and academic achievement. Education, like health care and national security, are needs far too important to outsource. Building a stronger public educational system is a good start in recognising this reality.
Page last updated 01 January 2020