Up until now, the necessities to become a teacher have been reasonable and not only are Qualified Teacher Status and a degree in line with what is being taught required, but also a native-level control of the English language has been required. However, up until recently, this has only been at the request of a school and not at the approval of the Emirati government.
However, the government is now making striking moves into the educative sector as the Ministry of Education is asking all teachers to be fully licensed to work in the United Arabic Emirates. It’s believed that these moves will push the level of education in the country up further to an international level, Marwan Al Sawaleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, was quoted saying: “We are moving and looking forwards for a new teacher-licensing system that will be introduced in the UAE. This will also enhance the quality of the teacher output and pedagogy.â€
- Up until now, all requirements to teach in the UAE were just requests by schools.
- As of the end of 2014, teachers will be required to hold a license to teach in the UAE.
These moves are expected to take place within the coming year and despite the plans still being in planning stages, the system is being rapidly evaluated and is scheduled to be moved to the Cabinet for approval before the end of the year. However, the good news is that this will be implemented in stages rather than simultaneously across the nation at a full-force-level.
This will hopefully help to ease growing pains as the plans become commonplace and the new scheme is driven to fruition. Sawaleh was quoted saying: “It will be implemented in stages, not all at once. We know the market and the population of the teachers, there will be a proper plan and a proper training plan also to introduce the teacher licensing.â€
Education in the United Arabic Emirates is already considered of a very high quality and not only is it compulsory through to the end of secondary education, it’s also free. However, the classrooms struggle with the issue of a horribly skewed student-to-teacher ratio, at 28 to 1, being the lowest in the world. The other issue is a lack of enrollment by citizens, seeing around only 64% of child and teenage citizens taking part.
- Plans won’t be implemented all at once
- Could improve attendance in schools and pull up quality of teachers
Will the new system truly bring up the standards of the United Arab Emirates and can it pull up both the poor enrollment figures and sort the skewed ratio in the classroom? Perhaps it can with your help: SeekTeachers has a range of positions based all over the United Arab Emirates, especially in the business center of the world, Abu Dhabi, and the beautiful gem of the Middle East, Dubai!
[The National: Teachers will soon have to be licensed to work in the UAE]