Dubai: "Schools are abiding by the education law when it comes to the number of classes of Arabic per week. But the quality of class time is compromised in some schools," according to a senior official.
Arabic, which is compulsory for all students, is still criticised for its failure to improve students' proficiency in the subject. It is compulsory for all Arab students to study Arabic until Grade 12. It is mandatory for non-Arab speakers until Grade 10 and optional beyond that. Fatima Al Merri, CEO of the Schools Agency at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said: "What I hear from most supervisors is schools should improve their Arabic language teaching. Those schools should also be monitored and supervised more often."
The teaching of Arabic in private schools depends on teachers' qualifications. Some schools recruit qualified and motivated teachers while others just recruit those who want 'to get the job done,' she said.
This year has been declared National Identity Year and Arabic is the official language. This should encourage more parents to look into the status of Arabic in education, she said, She said some schools were keen on improving their Arabic classes whereas others had asked for a more advanced Arabic curriculum for non-Arab students.
"The new Arabic books for Arab students are very good, and most supervisors are happy with them. If the same quality was found in the curriculum for non-Arab students, things would improve," she said.
The Schools Inspection Bureau, launching next academic year, will inspect the quality of teaching in Dubai's schools.
Arabic teacher: 'My students give their replies to me in English'
Majid Fahed, Head of the Arabic Unit at Dubai National Schools, says Arabic is declining in private schools.
Senior students initially had eight Arabic classes per week like public schools, but they have now been cut to five classes per week and the Arabic curriculum has 40 per cent less material, he says.
"I speak to my students in Arabic but get replies in English, or they add English words in their conversations. Their handwriting has also been affected; Pupils tend to keep spaces between the letters of a word, as in English," he said.
"In Arabic, however, the letters of each word are meant to be joined. In English you can finish a word by continuing it on the following line by placing a hyphen. You can't do that in Arabic but I see it when I mark Arabic essays," he added.
By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter