Once upon a school (turned museum)
Today, Dubai is among the region’s pre-eminent centres of learning, with modern institutions and schools using some of the most high-tech and innovative methods in the world to teach. But it wasn’t always this way. If you want to catch a glimpse of the very birthplace of education in Dubai, head to the Al Ahmadiya School in Al Ras. Al Ahmadiya School — the first national semi-regular school in Dubai — was founded by pearl merchant Shaikh Ahmed bin Dalmouk in 1912. It soon attracted scientists and scholars from around the Arab world as teachers, and continued operating until 1958. The Government of Dubai finally turned it into a museum after restoration work in 1994.
Notably, some of the school’s students went on to become some of the emirate’s leaders, such as Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Minister of Finance. Visitors to Al Ahmadiya will have an opportunity to learn about the history of educational development of the school, and experience its atmosphere by exploring the classrooms, utilities, and even the kitchen, and seeing the school’s curricula, writing materials and learning tools. By exploring the school, one can get a feel for what life was like in Dubai at the time, and put into perspective how far the emirate has come in such a short time.