HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, announced a series of radical reforms to the country’s education sector over the weekend. HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s new president, backed all of the measures, he said. In a tweet, Sheikh Mohamed stated ‘The education sector today is not the same as yesterday. Our ambitions today are not like yesterday. The skills of the future will be different and renewable. Our goal is to prepare a generation that carries the flag, completes the march, clings to identity and goes global with confidence. We ask everyone for serious cooperation to achieve this.’
قطاع التعليم اليوم ليس كالأمس .. وطموحاتنا اليوم ليست كالأمس .. ومهارات المستقبل ستكون مختلفة ومتجددة .. وهدفنا إعداد جيل يحمل الراية.. ويكمل المسيرة .. ويتمسك بالهوية.. وينطلق للعالمية بكل ثقة .. ونطلب من الجميع التعاون الجاد لتحقيق ذلك. والله الموفق أولاً واخيراً.
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) May 22, 2022
“We also announce the restructuring of the Education and Human Resources Council, headed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, so that the council will supervise the project for the future of education in the country in line with our ambitions, consolidate our national identity, and ensure educational outcomes that meet our future development, economic and social needs,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Ahmed Al Falasi, who is currently Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, will become Minister of Education, in charge of public and private schools and institutions across the country. Sarah Al Amiri, who is an engineer & has led UAE’s space agency in important missions such as sending a probe to Mars and sending an astronaut to the International Space Station, is the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences at the moment.
The Ministry of Education, the Education and Human Resources Council, Emirates Schools Establishment, the Federal Authority for Quality of Education, the Federal Authority for Early Childhood Education, and the Emirates Schools Establishment all underwent structural changes. Here are the detailed roles & responsibilities of the same:
The Emirates Schools Establishment: This focuses on increasing the efficiency of government schools and nurseries, monitoring public schools across the country, and executing policies, plans, and standards linked to the education sector’s development.
The Federal Authority for Quality and Standards of Education: The UAE Cabinet will establish a new specialised authority. It will be primarily responsible for assessing educational results, student performance, and process efficiency. The authority will be in charge of assessing educational quality, auditing educational outputs, early childhood education, kindergarten, public education, and higher education, as well as producing reports on the findings and ideas for policy, strategy, law, and curricula development.
