Why is English a Must in the UAE curriculum?

Shortly after the foundation of the federation with the formation of the first university in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, the UAE University, the delivery of education in the UAE started. From that particular time, the country has experienced progress in terms of the effort of making sure of high literacy rates, women’s education, and modern programs. 

The focus is on improving youth education which is the reason behind the setup of Agenda 21. 

On the basis of news published on Sep 4, 2017, by https://www.thenational.ae/uae, more emphasis is being given on English and Science in the UAE government. As per the education experts, the new system is going to prepare the learners better for further education as well as the workplace. The students will study more subjects in the English version. 

It was also announced that the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and the Ministry of Education run public schools will follow a combined course presented as the Emirati School Model. More science subjects were decided to be taught in English, especially for the 10, 11 and 12 graders. 

Furthering, currently, the two curricula differing between few emirates and officials desire to unify and simplify the entire process. The government is keen to encourage more young people to improve English and study science.

In the present situation, many students in public schools fail in the high school exit test that measures the readiness of English in their 12 grade. Hence, the students have to take a foundation year for improving before they step forward to attend university.

As per the description of the education experts, the new system is a hybrid that accepts the best aspects of both and is aimed to prepare the learners better for the future. 

The want is to nurture the nation’s schools so that the students can be well-rounded citizens who will be confident in their abilities and completely equipped for adulthood. 

Section 4.2 of the UAE National Charter 2021

• As per Section 4.2 of the UAE National Charter 2021, the educators will inculcate the shared values of the national identity and moderate religion in young people. Each people of the new generation will be ready for playing an active role in society as responsible and self-directed citizens. 
• The nation is supposed to set and achieve growingly ambitious targets of education. A progressive national curriculum is set to extend beyond the habitual learning for encompassing the critical thinking and practical abilities that will provide the youth essential skills and knowledge for progressing in the modern world. 
• The UAE bestows encouragements to the Emiratis for maximizing their potentiality by remaining in the schools and making it to the higher levels of education. In this way, the rates of school drop-outs will fall, enrolment in the universities will rise and more Emiratis will be able to reach the postgraduate educational level. 
• Most of the high-school graduates will prefer to continue their studies and those who will leave the school early will get other forms of support like vocational training. The students with special needs will be rightly homogenized within the educational system with the advantages of the supportive programs and infrastructure that gives assurance of fair victory. 
• In order to meet the challenges and reach the ambitious vision, the teachers and the schools require clear guidance on the skills, knowledge, and abilities in each content area that will help them get prepared for responding to the changing conditions and the societal requirements. This is the reason why the Ministry of Education has structured a revised set of KG1-12 English standards for guiding the schools towards a more rigorous, pertinent and organized curriculum for the next generation Emiratis. 

The English curriculum will make the Emirati schools’ graduates of Grade 12 able draw on the resources and knowledge in both Arabic and English, and comfortably communicate with and learn from the English speakers.

The Ministry has worked with a team of English language experts of the UAE, and drew from the present UAE English standards, Australia, UK, New Zealand and the United States Common Core State Standards’ K-12 English standards, and the English specifications for the international assessment (PISA) and the United States National Assessment of Educational Progress in Reading and Writing. 

The team had given consent to organize the English content into the present three domains, and then formally presented the new idea of grade band strands for making sure about the strong development progressions within each strand and covering the grades. Once the structure of the strands was in place, the team made a start to develop each standard and the individual student learning results for each strand at every grade.