Emiratisation in education must succeed

Here’s how to get more Emirati teachers into classrooms up and down the UAE

The lack of male educators is acute in the UAE because of a perception that teaching is not an appropriate profession for men. Ravindranath K / The National
Powered by automated translation

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) is celebrating a significant milestone in its Emiratisation programme. As The National reported yesterday, Emiratis now number 7,429, or 52 per cent of all Adec employees. The number of Emirati staff employed in the public school system increased by 26 per cent in 2014.

While there is no doubt that Emiratisation is a necessary project across all public and private enterprises, nowhere is it more important than in the education sector. The UAE will need expatriate employees for the foreseeable future but Emiratis must rightly play the major role in devising the curriculum and educating the country’s next generation. Crucially, this means putting Emiratis at the “coalface” of education: in the classroom.

On that front, there is still some way to go. The vast majority of the new employees have taken up managerial and administrative positions. There are 396 in teaching jobs. And in both the back office and the classroom, the recruits are overwhelmingly female. Just 98 Emirati men were among last year’s intake, and only 24 of them are teachers.

The lack of male educators is acute in the UAE because of a perception that teaching is not an appropriate profession for men. Adec's general manager, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, is aware of the problem and has launched a recruitment campaign under the slogan "Teach for the sake of the UAE". It's an initiative that deserves full support. As The National has argued before, Emirati children need Emirati teachers too and boys need positive male role models. More energy must be invested in efforts to validate teaching as a career choice for men and women alike. As a society we must acknowledge that it is an honourable and worthy profession with rewards that go much beyond a healthy pay packet, generous holidays and other benefits.

This is a challenge, not just for Adec but for education authorities across the UAE. For example, in Sharjah, the number of Emirati teachers is declining even though everyone accepts that they are essential across all seven emirates' education sector for complex community and cultural reasons. Clearly then, much of the programme's success will hinge on the effectiveness of conveying the message that by helping to shape young minds, teachers are also shaping the future of the country.