Following the Emirati School Model

I have been reading about the Emirati School Model with great interest since its recent announcement. Some sources herald the news as a major breakthrough in Emirati education progress. Other sources describe the move as a “major shakeup announced by the Ministry of Education and Abu Dhabi Education Council.” Personally, I applaud the move as a concerted effort by the Ministry of Education and ADEK to prepare Emirati children for a future that will most certainly be beyond our imagination.

In 2009, our National Governors Association and an organization known as the Council of Chief State Officers created a set of national standards called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The standards were optional adoptions for our states. As of 2013, 45 (out of a possible 50) states had adopted these standards. In the last four years, several states have opted out but now have standards that are very similar to those offered by the CCSS. In the United States, like the UAE, our educators and education officials realize that our students need an education system that can prepare them for a global economy that will require advanced mathematics, language arts and technology skills – as well as attributes that include creativity, self-directed learning and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Our Common Core State Standards have become increasingly controversial, as we continue to realize the future needs of our students. But the mere fact that they were created, that our governors had the foresight to create a national standard that looks toward the future, galvanized our national conversations around global education and the future of education. The Emirati School Model may not yet be perfect in its first iteration. But the efforts by directives of the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces are to be highly commended. With the creation of the Emirati School Model, your students now have a framework for a unified education system that can deliver higher objectives guided by a common vision. As your Minister of Education Hussain Al Hammadi, stated, “Our students are the most important resource of the UAE.” That’s a powerful statement. As long as we remember that, we will continue to make good decisions.