This was suggested at the closing of the second annual education conference titled ‘Essentials of School Education in the UAE’, which was hosted by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) on Tuesday.
In his closing remarks, Dr Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, ECSSR Director-General enumerated the suggestions put forward by the participants on the two-day conference. With the educational reformation, participants hoped to address the pressing issues currently faced by the country including the issue of promoting the use of English language without sacrificing Arabic.
“There is a need to develop a national strategy to ensure learning in English without being at the expense of learning and mastery of the Arabic language,” Dr Al Suwaidi said. Restructuring the secondary education and expansion of technological education is also of paramount importance if the country is to motivate students to stay in school and create future workforce for the growing industrial sector.
“The educational system must allow the student the opportunity to choose subjects, with a focus on natural sciences,” Dr Al Suwaidi added. The curriculum therefore should focus on key subjects such as Mathematics and
Science.
He stressed the need to assess the education reforms periodically to measure the impact on the community and whether the targets are met.
On teacher development, recommendations were made to ensure that teachers undergo professional development, scientific research and knowledge development to improve his or her performance in the classroom.
All the papers presented at the conference and the discussions about the issues and topics raised during the education sessions will be published by the ECSSR in a book.
