Universities aim to increase Emirati interest in teaching programmes

'Stem is the new direction for the country and now all of the higher education institutions are aligning their academic programmes to fit into that direction.'

If recent enrolment data from two of the country’s two federal universities is any indication, Emirati men have very little to no interest in becoming schoolteachers.

Not one male student enrolled for Zayed University’s Bachelor of Science in Education programme last year, while just 11 signed up to study at the United Arab Emirates University’s College of Education.

Both universities are taking steps to increase the number of students — male and female — who register for their teaching programmes to help meet the country’s growing need for national educators.

“This is an international phenomenon, it is not limited to the UAE,” UAEU Vice Chancellor, Prof Mohamed Albaili, said of the challenges of recruiting male students for teaching degrees. “The government is aware of this issue, this challenge, and trying to accommodate and deal with this issue by providing male students opportunities and incentives to join education sector in general.”

UAEU has teamed up with the Ministry of Education and the Abu Dhabi Education Council to train 120 non-Emirati students to become teachers beginning this month. The programme was open to expatriate high school graduates across the country who were born and raised in the UAE and maintained a minimum 95 per cent average. Prof Albaili said more than 500 applicants applied to enter the programme.

Read more: https://www.thenational.ae/uae/universities-aim-to-increase-emirati-interest-in-teaching-programmes-1.622987