Ministry set for academic year with eye on national priorities

The Ministry of Education (MoE), in cooperation with the UAE Government Media Office, held a media briefing in the presence of Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of Education, to outline its key preparations and development plans for the academic year 2025-2026, in line with national priorities.

The briefing was also attended by Mohammed Al Qassim, Under-Secretary of MoE; Sulaiman Al Kaabi, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Professional Development Sector; and Amna Al Saleh, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for the Curriculum and Assessment Sector, along with representatives of local media outlets.

Sarah Al Amiri confirmed that since January, the MoE has been developing proactive plans to ensure public schools’ readiness for the academic year 2025-2026, covering all aspects from facilities to advanced curricula.

9 NEW SCHOOLS: On operational readiness, Al Amiri announced the opening of 9 new schools across several emirates which will welcome over 25,000 students, supported by more than 800 new teachers.

More than 460 schools have been maintained and equipped, 5,500 buses allocated, more than 10 million textbooks printed and 47,000 laptops distributed.

Education Minister Sarah Al Amiri confirmed that since January, the MoE has been developing proactive plans to ensure public schools’ readiness for the academic year 2025-2026, covering all aspects from facilities to advanced curricula.

Mohammed Al Qasim highlighted the Ministry’s efforts to enhance students’ quality of life through the new Physical Education, Sports and Health Programme in public schools. The first phase of the initiative promotes a healthy, sustainable lifestyle by improving school health environments, organising sports tournaments, restructuring PE classes and introducing healthy meals.

Al Qasim reiterated the Ministry’s continued commitment to partnership with parents and educational cadres, emphasising their important role in shaping the national education system. This year, a participatory educational vision was developed to enhance their involvement in decision-making.

TA’ALEEM COUNCILS: As part of this, Ta’aleem Councils are being restructured: the School Leadership Council will have 14 members, the Teachers Council 14 members, and the Young Teachers Council seven members. Additionally, 520 Parents’ Councils, representing 6,140 members nationwide, will be activated to contribute to MoE decisions and projects.

He announced the MoE’s educational campaign, ‘From Skill to Leadership’, engaging educators, parents and the community. The campaign aims to develop students’ skills and transform them into achievements through three pillars: exploration, creating inspiring school environments to discover talent; development, enhancing skills via strategic partnerships and advanced training; and excellence, encouraging participation in local and international competitions.

Two programmes will launch in the first month: ‘My Inspiring Family’ involving parents, and ‘Inspiring People in the Field’, both designed to motivate students on their educational journey.

AI CURRICULUM: The MoE confirmed that the coming academic year will see the introduction of its nationally developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum - the first of its kind in the UAE - providing lessons from both local and international communities on integrating AI into education. Approximately 1,000 teachers will implement the curriculum across all grades, aiming to prepare students to use AI responsibly and effectively in daily and future life.

The initiative will offer practical insights on harnessing AI in education, helping to shape local educational policies and contribute to the global discussion on the future of education.

The Ministry of Education continues to enhance the capabilities of its educational cadres through advanced training programmes.

More than 23,000 educators participated in a specialised training week, totalling around 170 hours across 40 workshops for leaders and teachers and 20 workshops for support positions.

She noted that this year will introduce qualitative updates to boost the competitiveness of national education, including fundamental changes to the assessment policy.

CENTRALISED TESTS CANCELLED: Centralised tests at the end of the second semester have been removed and replaced with school-based summative assessments, with centralised tests remaining only in the first and third semesters.

The new system optimises school days, diversifies student performance assessment tools, enhances learning quality and teaching methods, promotes student wellbeing and adjusts semester weights in line with the updated policy.

Al Amiri highlighted the approval of the second phase of the project-based learning and assessment (PBLA) system, now covering all Cycle 2 students in public and private schools applying the MoE curriculum.

This follows the success of phase one, which engaged 127,500 students across 350 schools.

She also noted the development of the national testing system through a new standardised proficiency test to measure Arabic, English and mathematics skills for grades 4-11 in public schools, with the first phase expected to include 26,000 students.

WAM