There are flaws in the fabric of the UAE’s education system

The high-rate of school dropouts among young Emirati males is a reflection of those deficiencies, writes Peter J Hatherley-Greene

Given that this country has changed so profoundly in such a short space of time, it is unsurprising that the UAE's social fabric contains some "threads" that are too short, too long or simply missing altogether. The high-rate of school drop-outs among young Emirati males is an obvious loose-end.

One of the explanations for the high dropout rate is that many young Emiratis are struggling to make sense of their place in the modern world.

You see this fact manifested in the following socio-cultural trends: absent parenting, rising rates of youth crime and unemployment, decreasing use of the Arabic language in formal education, over dependence on foreign housemaids and nannies, increasing rates of diabetes associated with obesity, and an education system that is struggling to keep up. Modern social conditions are often far removed from the traditional family and community environments of a couple of generations ago.

One of the “long threads” in this narrative is a welfare state that has disconnected the link between effort and reward among a cadre of seemingly unmotivated young people.

Young Emirati males often endure a national school system that appears to offer a dull educational experience, staffed by untrained teachers from non-GCC countries. Unsurprisingly, many boys start to drift away from school as soon as they can find work, often after Grade 10.

The "short threads" in this narrative are represented by policy flaws within the national school system. In this regard, three issues stand out.

Firstly, despite hundreds of official workshops designed to improve teaching methods and instructional approaches, little has changed in the past few years.

This may be in part because of a lack of a requirement for mandatory teaching qualifications. After all, nothing beats a motivated, well-trained teacher to spark interest in learning. Take the example of Finland, where only the best candidates are selected for teaching.

The failure of the national school system to modernise its methods and improve the effectiveness of teachers, has also meant that many Emirati parents now prefer to send their children to private schools.

Secondly, the inappropriate use of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) assessments has led to far too much focus being placed on school inspection visits from accrediting authorities.

Thirdly, the accreditation authorities charged with the oversight of sustained improvement in education within the UAE are perceived as being not as effective as they could or, indeed, should be.

Finally, one of the “missing threads” may lie in the lack of curriculum reform in both secondary and tertiary education. Currently the system denies the demographic reality that 90 per cent of the UAE population are expatriates.

Furthermore, Emirati educational planners appear to place higher value on technocratic education system that has reduced learning to a production system at the expense of general human development and citizenship. Do science and technology contribute more to society than the humanities and arts?

The school dropout issue is complex, and is unlikely to be quickly or easily solved. However, the country can start right now by reflecting on its fabric and asking whose interests are best served by the education system here.

Dr Peter J Hatherley-Greene is a skills trainer and education manager based in the UAE