UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has announced a new major restructuring of the education system in the UAE, and directed the establishment of institutions supporting the development of the sector. "After consultation with my brother, President Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, we announce a major structural change in the UAE's education sector," he said. "We appointed Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi as the Minister of Education. We directed him to review all legislations and policies related to the education system in our country." Sarah Al Amiri was appointed Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairwomen of the Emirates Schools Establishment. "We directed her to develop a comprehensive plan to upgrade public schools in the country. We thank Hussain Al Hammadi and Jameela Al Muhairi for their efforts during the previous period." Sara Musallam was named Minister of State for Early Education and she will supervise the newly established Federal Authority for Early Education, UAE news agency WAM reported. Sarah will be responsible for developing comprehensive plans to follow up the child development from birth to the fourth grade. "The correct development of our children is the guarantee of our education's success," Shaikh Mohammed said. He also announced the establishment of the "Federal Authority for Quality and Standards of Education" affiliated to the UAE Cabinet, to be responsible for measuring the educational outcomes, student performance, and the efficiency of the educational process. Shaikh Mohammed announced the restructuring of the "Education and Human Resources Council" chaired by Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to be responsible for supervising the project of the Future of Education in the country. New Structure of Educational System: The new structure in the education sector includes the Education and Human Resources Council, Federal Authority for Quality of Education, the Ministry of Education, the Federal Authority for Early Childhood Education, the Emirates Schools Establishment, in addition to the local educational authorities in each emirate, which will operate according to one system and specific competencies. The Education and Human Resources Council: Under the new structure, the Education and Human Resources Council will be reconstituted, chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The council will be responsible for supervising the project of the Future of Education in the country. The Council's responsibilities will also include setting the vision and objectives of the education sector in the UAE, developing the general framework for education and submitting it to the UAE Cabinet for approval, and developing educational policies and legislation. In addition, the Council will follow up the performance of the sector. The Federal Authority for Quality and Standards of Education: The new structure created a specialised Authority for Quality of education to be affiliated with the UAE Cabinet. It will be mainly responsible for measuring the educational outcomes, student performance, and the efficiency of the educational process. The Authority will be responsible for measuring the quality of education, auditing educational outputs related to education, early childhood education, kindergarten, public education, and higher education, in addition to submitting reports on the results and proposals to develop policies, strategies, legislation and curricula. The Federal Authority for Early Childhood Education: The new structure created a federal authority specialised in early childhood education, to develop and implement comprehensive plans to follow up the child development from birth to the fourth grade. Affiliated with the UAE Cabinet, the Authority will be responsible for developing policies, strategies, legislations and programs related to the education needs of the early childhood stage. The authority will be responsible for setting regulations and standards, and issuing licenses and monitoring government and private nurseries in the country in coordination with the competent local authorities, and working with parents to enhance their role in the early childhood stage. Developing the Ministry of Education: According to the new structure, the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education will include developing policies, strategies and legislation related to public and higher education in the UAE. The ministry's functions include managing and developing the general education framework, curricula and tools for government public education schools in the country, developing curricula for compulsory educational materials for private schools, setting standards and regulations, issuing licenses and monitoring private schools in coordination with the competent local authorities. The work of the ministry also consists of supervising international exams in the country and managing their implementation in all public, private and higher education institutions, in coordination with the concerned authorities. In addition to the recognition of public and higher education institutions operating outside the country, equivalency of certificates and qualifications they grant, and ratification of certificates and qualifications issued by public and higher education and training institutions licensed within the country. The Emirates Schools Establishment: The new structure of the education system included the Emirates Schools Establishment, which comes under the umbrella of the UAE Cabinet, and is concerned by enhancing the efficiency of the government schools and nurseries, supervising public schools in the country, and implementing policies, strategies and standards related to the development of the education sector. Under the new structure, the establishment will also be specialised in developing student care programmes, activities and events in public schools, supervising their implementation, and proposing innovative and new models for operating public schools to raise their efficiency. — WAM
