AL AIN // The head of the university due to take over most of the UAE's remedial English and maths courses has called for the transfer to be completed without further delay.
Most Emirati students have to take foundation English before they start their university courses. Many also take remedial courses in maths and IT.
English is a particular problem because while it is the language of instruction in federal universities, most lessons in state schools are taught in Arabic.
Until now, foundation courses have been taken at the same institute that provides the degree.
In May, UAE University (UAEU) decided that should change, with its students instead taking their foundation courses at one of the 16 Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) campuses across the country, transferring to UAEU only once they acquired the necessary basic skills.
The aim was for students to start their study closer to their homes, while allowing UAEU to focus on improving its degree courses and research.
Some areas have already made the switch, with foundation students from Fujairah and Al Gharbia being moved to HCT campuses in September. Twenty foundation teachers were also transferred from UAEU to teach those courses.
The rest of the country was due to follow in the coming months, with some of UAEU's remaining 250 foundation teachers expressing concern that they could be made redundant in the process.
However, on Sunday, UAEU's vice chancellor, Abdullah al Khanbashi, e-mailed the teachers to tell them the scheme would not be expanded further until at least September. "UAEU and HCT have agreed to do further work on three main programme elements," he wrote, including working with local schools and the alignment of the HCT foundation programme with that of UAEU.
Mark Drummond, the provost of HCT, agreed that the differences between the two institutions' foundation curricula were a major stumbling block.
"We focus mainly on English while there is more IT and Maths at UAEU," he said. "We do have to be sure we're in sync and at the moment, we're moving ours in line with that of UAEU."
However, he insisted the differences were not enough to justify the delay.
"We can't be seen to be stalling with this," he said. "I'm not saying don't be cautious, but we must keep showing progress. You shouldn't have people who aren't qualified on the UAEU campus."
Such disagreement about the pace of the transfer was "fine", according to Rory Hume, the UAEU provost. However, he said, "what we must agree on is that this must be done."
He said he hoped that Mr al Khanbashi's e-mail would help teachers feel more secure, and said he would be meeting the university's deans and teachers this week.
"Nobody enjoys change, so I am sure they will be relieved," he said. "Their jobs will be safe at least for one more year while we assess the outcomes in Fujairah.
"The Western Region has gone swimmingly but we've had some initial problems in Fujairah so we'll just run it there for another year.
"It was a big change and we anticipate it will run more smoothly the second time around, and the instructors will be more ready for it."
Other teething problems included student transportation and financial aid.
One English foundation teacher said: "This is a big relief for us. Things have been very uncertain for some time now. It's clear that the programme will indeed be killed off in the future, but not yet."