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Abu Dhabi aims to boost education standards
A Higher Education Strategic Plan is being developed by the Abu Dhabi Education Council to promote raise the standards of Abu Dhabi schools in accordance with the highest international standards, according to Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC. He said ADEC has started to implement a comprehensive plan to assess the current status of higher education in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Executive Council General Secretariat, New York University, Paris-Sorbonne, Oxford University, INSEAD, Imperial College and other local higher education institutions, universities and companies.
UAE launches PISA orientation programme
The UAE Ministry of Education has begun an orientation programme for the PISA examinations in preparation for the mock exams next month. The Programme for International Student Assessment is an internationally standardised assessment developed by the OECD countries and administered to 15-year-olds in schools. PISA was launched by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and is conducted every three years. It assesses how many of the basic skills needed for full participation in socieity students have acquired near the end of their compulsory education.
Oman, Tunisia sign education, social agreements
Oman and Tunisia have signed a range of agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, Khaleej Times has reported. The deals, covering cooperation in the educational, social and economic sectors, were signed by the Omani-Tunisian Joint Committe, with Education Minister Yahya bin Saud al Sulaimi representing Oman.
Canteen food to be 'standardised'
UAE's ministries of health and education have teamed up to monitor school canteens to reinforce the system of monitoring and regulating school canteens and ensure high quality of food, as incidence of obesity among children becomes more prevalent in the UAE. The government is currently preparing a guidebook for standardising canteens to provide healthy foods to students.
Second university planned for Makkah
Makkah is to have a second university, to be called Hudaibiya, as part of the Makkah Gate project. Hudaibiya will be the second university in Makkah after Umm Al-Qura University, which is one of the oldest in the Kingdom, Arab News has reported. The university will house an international centre for research. It will also host a centre for cultural dialogue.
Parents welcome new British school in Abu Dhabi
The British International School, which is set to open in Abu Dhabi this September, is being welcomed by parents in the capital due to the acute shortage of school places in the emirate, school officials told The National. The school is expected to have 500 pupils at its launch, and will eventually have 2,000. Parents say the school shortage in the capital is particularly acute in the kindergarten and primary years.
English programme hurts Arabic, warns principals
School principals in the UAE are warning that a pilot programme that uses English to teach maths and science is weakening pupils' Arabic skills, reported The National. The Madares Al Ghad (schools of tomorrow) programme was introduced into 50 schools in autumn 2007. While the goal of the programme is to create bilingual graduates, principals say that childrens' Arabic vocabulary is suffering.
UAE reduces weight of controversial Grade 12 exam
The UAE's Ministry of Education said it is reducing the weight of first-term results for end-of-year Grade 12 scores after a large number of pupils failed a controversial new exam, reported the National. Last December the ministry introduced a new exam in a move to assess critical thinking rather than memorisation skills. An estimated 40% of pupils failed the exam, which was criticised by parents as 'too difficult'. Yesterday the ministry said it was changing the calculation of first-term results, which will now account for only 40% of the end-of-year grade, and the second term for 60%. Each term initially was to have been weighted equally.
Bill Gates teams up with Dubai Cares
Bill Gates, the former chairman of Microsoft, has signed a deal with Dubai Cares to co-fund projects aimed at improving the education of children in the developing world. Gates is co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which donates about $800m a year to global health programmes. The partnership aims to improve primary schools and the health of children who attend them in poor parts of Africa and Asia.
Yale and others join UAE scholarship programme
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation has signed Memorandums of Understanding with six US universities for its Fellows scholarship programme. The Fellows programme aims to develop future business leaders by offering a fully funded scholarship to qualified Arab candidates who can demonstrate leadership, dedication and commitment to the Arab world's socio-economic development. Twenty-eight universities are now part of the programme, with the latest being schools at the universities of Columbia, Harvard, Berkley, Michigan, Johns Hopkins and Yale.
Fundraiser to aid needy students
Al Quds University Friends' Committee in Abu Dhabi will organise its sixth charity dinner at Beach Rotana Hotel and Towers in Abu Dhabi on Friday May 15 to raise funds to help students of Al Quds University pay their tuition fees. Al Quds University, the only Arab University in occupied Jerusalem, provides education and community services to students from neighbouring towns, villages and refugee camps. The university hosts more than 10,000 students - many of them are unable to pay fees because of the increasing unemployment rate and deteriorating economic conditions.
DIAC to build student accommodation
Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) has announced during Getex the launch of a dedicated student accommodation project within DIAC. The Dhs700m project will be developed by Rixima FZ LLC, and will house over 2,800 students. The project is expected to be ready by 2011.
Getex Dubai opens
The 21st edition of the Getex Dubai education fair, is underway at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event, focuses on Student Recruitment, HRD and Training, Careers 2009, and Education Equipment and Technology 2009. It is set to run until April 18.
Dubai to assess students
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai will be assessing the educational performance and skills of 6,500 students in the emirate this month to serve as the basis for future decisions in the educational sector. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) - a world-wide test of 15-year-old schoolchildren's educational performance - will rank Dubai against 67 countries from different parts of the world, with students selected from 130 public and private schools participating in the three hour assessment between April 26 to May 14, reported Gulf News.
New hospitality school opens in UAE
Vatel Emirates School for hotel and tourism management has opened in the Academy Zone of Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone. About 70 students have enrolled in programmes at the RAK campus, according to Khaleej Times, and students will also have the opportunity to study at the Vatel Los Angeles as part of an Academic Content MBA Hospitality Tourism Management course. The school is also looking at opening a Marco Polo Program, where students will spend one semester in another country to assimilate other cultures and study different languages.
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