Ministry of Education, ADEC reveal details of the standardised educational system

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) have affirmed that uniting the educational system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi with the federal system, spreading the UAE school model and upgrading the educational system to achieve a unified national educational system will contribute to achieving a quantum leap in the education sector in the UAE, especially in the teaching methods, mechanisms and systems of interaction with students.

The MOE and the ADEC pointed out that the alignment of and challenge faced by the educational system in the UAE are centered on unifying the educational systems, policies and tracks of action of all UAE public schools, circulating the UAE school model, enhancing the efficiency of the educational system in the UAE and optimizing the available resources down to a unified national plan to improve the functioning of the educational system in the State.

His Excellency Eng. Abdulrahman Al Hammadi, the  MOE Undersecretary for Supervision and Support Services,  said that  the  MOE and the  ADEC, in accordance with the guidelines for the unification of the educational system, formed a joint team in order to outline the details of the plan to unify the educational system, and the study of the unification plan for each basic educational track if agreed upon in detail. He also pointed out that the preparatory and equipping processes were carried out to ensure a smooth start of the academic year 2017/2018 and to ease assuming the responsibilities resulting from the of public education subordination to the MOE at the state level.

He pointed out that the unification of the educational system will result in the harmonization of curricula, evaluation and examinations with the MOE. He said that the unification of the efforts made by the ADEC and the MOE are intended to provide the best outputs and further developments of the educational system. Furthermore, he pointedthe importance of working to identify the educational priorities in the unified system and to provide it with the reasons for its success and leadership.

"The MOE will monitor the performance of schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in order to match its internal laws, regulations, rules  and policies with the laws and policies of  the MOE , provided that the ADEC is periodically informed of the monitoring conclusions." He added.

He pointed out that a committee was formed by the two parties to consider the smart electronic educational systems and solutions and the optimal accreditation of these systems to be circulated all over the UAE. He pointed out that the MOE is committed to providing schoolbooks for the academic year 2017/2018 for all subjects in all grades.

Dr Yousif Al Sheryani, advisor to Adec's director general, said that, in cooperation with the MOE, ADEC has formed joint work teams to work out plans to ensure a good start for the 2017-2018 academic year and prepared transitional plans to achieve full harmonization in the academic year 2018-2019. Several meetings and workshops were held during which these plans were presented and discussed and the tasks and powers of the ADEC and the MOE were agreed upon in the light of the process of uniting the educational system at the state level.

His Excellency said "The process of unifying the education system will take into account ADEC’s constant role in teaching science and math in English as it is currently". He added that "an additional share of the educational system in Abu Dhabi will be maintained in addition to the quotas approved in the federal system. There should also be co-ordination on teaching the extra class."

His Excellency said  "In accordance with the guidelines for the standardization of the educational system, ADEC will be responsible for evaluating public and private schools, while the MOE should be informed regularly of the results of such evaluation. The MOE shall coordinate and agree with the ADEC before any development, cancellation, addition, modification or generalization affecting the educational system, provided that this does not impede the progress of the educational process."

He added: "All students will have the freedom to choose at the undergraduate level depending on the course followed, provided that the general examination and university admittance conditions will be taken into account. The 12th grade will be excluded from the federal study systems in the specialized subjects during the transitional period. The 11th  and below grades will be included in the new school year 2017/2018 in the unified education systems."

The school readiness plan for the academic year 2017/2018 includes the alignment of the ADEC and MOE study plans for the 2017/2018 academic year, the delivery of textbooks for the first semester, the delivery of educational and enrichment resources to all schools, and the provision of e-books to school staff.

The evaluation policies for the 2017/2018 academic year will also be harmonized and developed, the evaluation methods and tools will be developed and implemented (by the end of the 2017/2018 academic year), academic quality development officers and other trainers will be trained. In addition to implementing a vocational development week, informing teachers of the new curriculum.

School readiness plan for the school year includes ensuring that teachers have access to educational resources on the networks, and ensuring that ongoing training is implemented (to the end of the academic year 2017/2018)

The ADEC  and th MOE agreed on some key points, including the teaching of English language, from the kindergarten to the tenth grade, the preparation of the curricula of the English language from the kindergarten to the twelfth grade and the provision of textbooks, applying ADEC's  curricula in English language, mathematics and science from kindergarten through fifth grade.

The agreement points also included the implementation of the ADEC's  technology, design and innovation curricula and the provision of ADEC’s textbooks in the first, second, third and twelfth grade. The MOE’s curriculum will be applied in the other grades, as well as all the subjects in grade 6 through grade 11. It has also been agreed upon  applying the MOE’s curricula in the Arabic language, Islamic religion and social studies from kindergarten to 12th grade. The MOE will provide all curricula in the e-library before the academic year.

With regard to the evaluation and examinations, the tests will be standardized for all grades in the following subjects (Islamic religion - Arabic Language - Social Studies) and will be standardized for each subject in the transition material. The tests and evaluation will be applied in accordance with the standardized evaluation and examination policy, including descriptive and quantitative assessment, at the beginning of the school year to be implemented this year.

The points of the agreement which aim at the standardaisation of the educational system around the UAE for the purpose of producing astandardised national educational system,  confirmed that teachers meet the requirements of applying the curriculum in the specialized training week at the beginning of the academic year, and standardizing the training model of the ADEC and the MOE, ensuring effective and continuous training.

It is worth noting that the unification of the educational system at the state level will build an innovative educational system for a globally competitive society that encompasses all ages and meets the needs of the future labor market by ensuring quality education outcomes at all state schools and providing outstanding services to students and all educational staff.