UAE to become first country to gauge how schools help shape personalities and values in students through dedicated testing
The UAE government will be spending AED 5 billion ($1.36 billion) to install “state-of-the-art” infrastructure for schools across the emirates. UAE will spend AED 5 billion on education over the next six years, per an approval by the UAE cabinet granted last Sunday.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of UAE Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum also took up the ‘Emirati School Model’ and progress made on the programme.
Under the Emirati School Model, more than 800 public and private schools in the UAE are following the curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education. The model is aimed at preparing children that drive the nation towards achieving the UAE Vision 2021 and UAE Centennial Strategy 2071.
The model also looks to improve and advance the national curriculum and implementing unified teaching and assessment practices in schools per the ministry’s directives. The Emirati School Model alos lays great emphasis on Mathematics, sciences and languages. The UAE education ministry is working to modernise the national curriculum in order that international standards are incorporated into the syllabus to meet the needs of an evolving job market. It is also focusing on providing increased facilities for student recreational activities to enhance the knowledge, skills and personalities of school students.
Moral High Ground
Besides the new school model, the UAE is also on the brink of launching a new test to assess moral education across the nation. The move will make the UAE the first country in the world to gauge through proper testing how schools help shape the personalities and values in students over the course of their education.
Dubbed Moral Education Standardised Assessment (Mesa), the proposal was unveiled at the Middle East and Africa Association of Test Publishers (MEA-ATP) conference held in Abu Dhabi from January 28 to 30.
The test will first go on trial in about 70 schools and be applied to around 10,000 students in Grades 3,5,7 and 9. The test will include situational judgment questions besides testing the students for knowledge recall.
Initiatives like the Emirati School Model, Mesa, National Experts Programme showcase UAE’s commitment towards becoming the leader in educational innovation in not only the GCC region, but the world as well. The government’s push for reforms has had a positive effect on the economy as well.
According to a report by Arabian Business, hiring in the UAE’s education sector witnessed saw a “double digit percentage jump in the last three months of 2018”. Data from Monster Employment Index revealed a 13 percent increase in hiring in the education sector in Q4 2018.
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