UAE Education History

Education in the UAE

• Education in the UAE began with the first civilisations.
• It evolved from a traditional simple style to systematic education based on well-studied subjects and curricula.

Informal Education

• Old male and female teachers called "mutawwa" and "mutawaa" taught all subjects to children in the neighbourhoods.
• Mutawa & Mutawaa did not receive a salary, but received donations from the students’ parents on different occasions.
• The Mutawa taught in their house or in one of the merchant's houses or mosques, mostly teaching adults.

Semi-formal Education

• Between 1903 to 1953, education developed as pearl merchants (tawaweesh) were influenced by Arabian reform and awakening waves.
• Students learned Quran, Prophet's biography, tajweed, dictation, jurisprudence, math, grammar, literature, reading, history and geography.
• Some schools later offered English.

Modern Systematic Education

• From 1953-1971, the UAE had an infrastructure for education by accepting educational missions from Arab countries.
• Kuwait was the first to send a mission to Ras Al-Khaimah in 1954.
• Egypt sent missions to Sharjah and then Dubai.
• Qatar sent missions to Dubai and then Sharjah.
• Bahrain sent missions to Sharjah.
• Jordan sent a mission to Abu Dhabi, which was the first to provide kindergarten education in 1967.

Development of Education After the Union

• After discovering oil and the union of the Emirates, the UAE focused on education
• His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan considered education a priority for progress and was generous towards education projects for gradual improvement.
• In 1972, elementary schools accommodated only 40% of children.
• The state decided to pay a monthly salary for each learner, provide transport and hot school meals and offer school uniforms and stationery.
• Higher education was unavailable locally, therefore students had to seek other countries and would receive higher education at the government expense.
• Education vision became polarized on higher standards of science and technology.
• Schools were established in different regions and rural areas to provide education for all.
• The UAE also provided education for adults.

Measuring the Success in Education

• Literacy among men in 1975 was 54.2% and among women was 30.3%.
• In 1998, literacy among men was 73.4% and among women was 77.1%.

Higher Education

• There are many universities in the UAE.
• The first university in the UAE, United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, opened by Sheikh Zayed in 1976.
• There are many governmental and private universities in the UAE that have different majors.
• There are about 33 universities in the UAE.
• Governmental universities:
  • Higher Colleges of Technology.
  • Zayed University.
  • United Arab Emirates University.
• Private universities:
  • Ajman University, established in 1988, was the first private university.
  • Sharjah University.
  • American University of Dubai.

Distance Learning in the UAE

• The UAE had Hamdan University, which offered online classes before the pandemic
• The beginning of the pandemic in 2020 caused a lockdown but schools and colleges continued to offer online classes.
• Because online learning was new, colleges and schools gave teachers extensive training to provide students with effective online classes.

Advantages of online learning

• It is easy to attend from the comfort of home.
• Students can watch recorded lessons.
• It is flexible and saves money and time.
• It is safer because it prevents the virus from spreading and benefits those who cannot leave the house due to health issues.
• Online learning advances teaching methods and allows for more family time.

Disadvantages of Distance Learning

• Students and teachers faced technical problems.
• It increased screen time for both students and teachers, leading to weight gain for some.
• Low social contact had a negative effect on all ages, and many people felt isolated.
• Not everyone could afford a laptop or iPad for each child.
• Students of all ages had to depend on themselves to follow up with their lessons.
• Students get distracted easily and may not focus on their lessons.
• It was difficult to teach practical subjects through online classes.
• There was questionable credibility of grades during online learning.