Contents:
- General information about the UAE
- General information and key indicators relevant to education
- The educational system
- Other education-related information
Accurate as of March 2013; unless indicated otherwise, the websites are all in English. Acknowledgement: Mais Alaranji.
General information about the UAE
Geography: the United Arab Emirates, in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, extends along part of the Gulf of Oman and the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. The nation is the size of Maine. Its neighbors are Saudi Arabia to the west and south, Qatar to the north, and Oman to the east. Most of the land is barren and sandy.
Government: the UAE is a federation formed in 1971 by seven emirates known as the Trucial States—Abu Dhabi (the largest), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. In addition to a federal president and prime minister, each emirate has a separate ruler who oversees the local government.
Read more @ infoplease.
General information and key indicators relevant to education
“The development of education in the UAE started effectively in 1962, where the number of schools then was barely 20 schools, in which less than 4000 students studied, mostly male students. The necessary infrastructure was often unavailable in many social services venues including hospitals, households, airports, etc. due to the lack of necessary manpower”. Find out more @ UAE Ministry of Education.
The UAE attaches great importance to education, which dates back to historical times. Education in the UAE has evolved from the simple traditional mode and is in line with international standards. General information and more details about breakdown and divisions of UAE educational system are available at the following links: @ UNESCO/IBE: World Data on Educatio – UAE; @ dubai.ae, the official portal of the Dubai Government; @ UAE Interact; @ HH Sheikh Mohammed; @ Dubai FAQs; @ Arabian campus; and @ abudhabi.ae, the official portal of the Abu Dhabi emirate.
The educational system
In 1962 there were only 20 schools in the country with less than 4000 students — and most of those boys. By the time the UAE was established in 1971, there were still less than 28,000 students and education was pretty well confined to the towns. Today there are over 290,000 children at government schools all over the country. Each village has its primary school for young children and in the towns, secondary schools with boarding facilities mean that students of different sexes can complete their secondary education. In the past, post-secondary education was government-financed and of course meant going abroad to other Arab countries or even to Britain or America. At present, however, the UAE can offer higher education at home. In 1977, the Emirates University was set up in Al Ain. Since that time, there have been some 14,500 graduates with half of them women. Hundreds of new graduates are turned out each year.
Information about EarlyChildhood Education in Dubai: see the Dubai School of Government Policy Brief on Early Childhood Education of January 2011
Information about Primary and Secondary Education in the UAE: @ UNDP; @ Expat Woman; and @ Zayed University.
Information about Universities andHigher Education in the UAE: @ UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, which has produced a Guide to Higher Education in the UAE. For a list of universities in the UAE, see Dubai FAQs and Classbase; see also the United Arab Emirates University.
Click here for A Study of the UAE Higher Education Sector in Light of Dubai’s Strategic Objectives, published in the June 2008 volume of the Journal of Economic & Administrative Sciences of the College of Business & Economics of the United Arab Emirates University.
Information about Vocational Education and Training in the UAE: @ Abu Dhabi Vocational Educaiton & Training Institute; and @ ABu Dhabi Secondary Technical School.
Other education-related information
Essays about education in the UAE: on Education technology in the UAE, Curriculum Reform in the UAE, Transformative learning: UAE, women and higher education and Constructivism and Revitalizing Social Studies (2011).