Focus on moral education
50,000 new seats will be offered by 15 new private Dubai schools to open in 2016-2017 |
Teacher licensing and the incorporation of Moral Education into the mainstream curriculum are among the main focus areas for the new school year that began yesterday, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) told Gulf News.
Emphasis will be placed on getting faculty and school leaders prepared for the mandatory teacher licensing that is set to begin in September 2017, said Dr Karima Al Mazroui, executive director for P-12 (kindergarten – Grade 12) at Adec.
“New learning outcomes have also been set for subjects like music, art and health and physical education to keep up with the changing landscape. The previous outcomes were dated, so these new ones will be finalised by next year,” she said, pointing out “teachers will be trained accordingly”.
Public and private schools will also work to include moral education as part of their curriculum, and a pilot project to test implementation will begin in January 2017.
Abu Dhabi school model
Meanwhile, all Cycle 1 (Grades 1 to 5) and Cycle 2 (Grades 6 to 9) pupils are now being taught under the Abu Dhabi School Model, which prioritises creativity and critical thinking over rote learning.
The roll-out of the model to Grade 9 has been achieved this academic year, ushering in a transformed learning experience for all public school pupils in primary and middle school.
Also new this academic year are 146 Emirati teachers who have joined the public school teaching staff as part of 700 new recruits, said Salem Al Daheri, executive director of school operations at Adec.
“Many of them are specialised in teaching maths, science and English, which form the core of the Abu Dhabi School Model,” he said.
Dr Al Mazroui also urged parents to play an active role in their children’s education.
“As children get older, parental involvement tends to decline and this is a major challenge for any education system,” she said.
Meanwhile, the educational opportunities offered by Dubai’s private schools continue to grow. This academic year, more than 265,299 students will be going back to school in the emirate.
Khalthoom Al Beloushi, executive director of Education Development at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said: “Parents will benefit from more than 50,000 new seats offered by 15 new private schools which will open in 2016-2017. The total seats of schools are estimated at 360,000, which is more than had been anticipated, revealing the constant growth in the educational landscape in Dubai where investment in education is strong and in demand. Seats occupied by students of the total seats available in the private schools is currently estimated to be around 89 per cent, [based on] 2015-2016.”
The new schools range from different curricula — American, British and Indian — which will be located in different areas, increasing the accessibility of a diverse range of schools for students around Dubai.
The development results in “better and outstanding quality of education with a wide range of educational institutes to meet the needs of our uniquely diverse society”, Khalthoom said.
School fees
Regarding school fees, Mohammad Ahmad Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission (RPC), KHDA, explained: “For this new academic year, 109 profit schools and 27 nonprofit schools were eligible to change their tuition fees. Out of this number 103 profit and 19 non-profit schools had their fees increased.”