Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Many schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Schools (CBSE) in India do not offer Arabic as an optional language in grade 9 and 10 in high school.
This is despite having Arabic listed as one of the 27 optional languages provided by the CBSE schools, Gulf News has learnt.
Some school principals in the UAE said there was no demand for Arabic, others said there were not enough qualified teachers.
Qualification
Many parents would like their children to take Arabic as an optional language, as it would serve as an additional qualification to work in the UAE.
Malati Das, principal of the Ajman Indian School, said her school offered the official language of India, Hindi, the South Indian language Malayalam and French as optional languages.
"The majority of schools do not have qualified teachers to teach the optional Arabic language provided by the CBSE. This is because the level is quite advanced. It is a different syllabus altogether. Those who need to take Arabic as one of their optional languages, study on their own outside. We have not given that option," she said.
B.L., parent of a pupil at Abu Dhabi Indian School, said: "We are not against any other languages, like French or Hindi. If any pupils want to study these languages, they should be encouraged. But schools must not impose languages on pupils who are not interested in them.
"We asked for Arabic as an optional language in grade 9 as my son does not like French or Hindi, but he has a good base in Arabic."
B.L. said learning a new language at this stage was an additional burden on the student as they were already under pressure because of the wide syllabus.
B.L. and a group of parents told Gulf News they had approached the school but met with little success.
B.R. Shetty, chairman of the board of governors of Abu Dhabi Indian School, told Gulf News he was not aware of any problems.
"The school principal was instructed to introduce Arabic as the optional language in the high school on Wednesday," said the chairman. Arabic teaching will be provided even if a few pupils opt for it, said Shetty.
Mary George, principal of the Ras Al Khaimah Indian School, said she had introduced Arabic as an optional subject in grade 10.
Al Ain Indian School offers Arabic, apart from Hindi, French and Malayalam, said principal Neelam Upadyay. The Oasis School in Al Ain also offers Arabic as a second language in addition to Malayalam, Bengali and Urdu, said P.K. Manaf, principal.
The Indian Islahi School in Abu Dhabi said it offers Arabic as the second language, apart from Hindi and Malayalam. Al Noor Indian Islamic School also offers Arabic, apart from Urdu and Malayalam.
Our Own English High School in Abu Dhabi does not offer Arabic, but special arrangements are made for languages like Arabic on request, said K. George Mathew, Principal. "We offer Hindi, French and Malayalam."
Many pupils said Arabic as an optional language would make their studies easier. "A circular from my school said they offer other languages," said Biju, a pupil at a prominent school in Abu Dhabi.
V.G.V., a grade 9 pupil, said it would help her if Arabic was available as one of the optional subjects.
"I speak Malayalam at home and my parents can teach me but Arabic is what I learn at school," she said.
The principals of schools that do not offer Arabic said they try to give pupils an opportunity to learn a new language.
Study: Widely spoken
Over 382,000 students study Arabic in private schools every year in the UAE. The subject is compulsory between grades 1 and 10. Non-Arab students are required to take four classes per week from grade 1 to 10.
Gulf News had reported earlier very few pupils leave school with the ability to converse fluently in Arabic, let alone being able to read or write it.
About Arabic
- Second most spoken language in the world, with around 420 million speakers.
- One of the six official languages of the United Nations.
- Was the international language of science, maths and philosophy for more than 500 years.
- Language of the Quran, the holy book of more than 1.2 billion Muslims.
- English, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu use several loan words from Arabic.
- The basic scale in music today comes from the Arabic syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti.
- In the Arabic alphabet these notes are Dal-Ra-Mim-Fa-Sad-Lam-Sin.
Does your child's school offer Arabic as an optional language? What, according to you, are the disadvantages of not being offered the subject? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com
By Sunita Menon and Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporters