UAE FOCUS ON EDUCATIONAL REFORM: RESHAPING CIVICS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 003463

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016
TAGS: KDEM KPAO OEXC SOCI AE
SUBJECT: UAE FOCUS ON EDUCATIONAL REFORM: RESHAPING CIVICS
AND ISLAMIC INSTRUCTION

REF: A. 04 DUBAI 005252


B. ABU DHABI 03140

C. ABU DHABI 03344

Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CDA, MARTIN QUINN FOR REASONS 1.4 (b)&(d).


1. (C) Summary: The UAEG is taking steps in the direction
of educational reform. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has
made substantial changes to its curriculum, including civics
and Islamic studies programs, and is placing greater emphasis
on critical thinking and active learning. The highest levels
of UAEG leadership are focused on reforming both the subject
matter and who is doing the teaching. During a July 29 lunch
meeting, the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince said the UAE had stopped
sending its Islamic studies students to Saudi Arabia due to
concern over extremist views among Saudi teachers. A critical
component of the UAE's educational reform involves raising
the quality of educators and ensuring they do not have
extremist leanings. At the same July 29 meeting the UAE
Foreign Minister said that even a moderate curriculum, if
taught by a teacher with a "twisted mind," is dangerous.
Noting the importance of educating youth, the Foreign
Minister stated categorically that "we cannot have radical
Muslims running our schools, no matter what subjects they may
be experts in." On August 7, Econoff was told by Dr. Obeid
Al-Muhairi, Director of the Curriculum Reform Center at the
Ministry of Education (MOE) that the Crown Prince finances
curriculum reform for civic education because this issue is
"very important to the UAEG leadership." End Summary.

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Background: Secondary Education
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2. (SBU) There are three types of secondary schools in the
UAE: 1) general education (high schools),2) technical
schools, and 3) Islamic schools. Formerly, students were only
required to attend school through ninth grade and the drop
out rate after ninth grade was 25 percent. However, drop out
figures have declined significantly in recent years; current
rate is now only eight percent. Starting with the 2006-2007
school year, it will be compulsory for students to attend
school through twelfth grade. 33,000 UAE national students
graduated from general education programs in 2006, compared
to approximately 300 students from technical high schools and
600 students from Islamic secondary schools. Only the
emirates of Dubai, Ajman, and Al Ain maintain Islamic
schools. Students in the Islamic schools primarily study the
Koran, but are also tested in academic subjects such as math
and English.

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Civics instruction as preparation for Democracy?
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3. (SBU) Currently, civics education is taught in grades one
through twelve. Students learn about the UAE Constitution,
the federal system, ministries, the Consultative Council and
the concept of elections. Beginning with the 2006-2007
school year, grades ten through twelve will begin classes
covering such topics as negotiation, democracy, and
elections. Ali Al-Suwaidi, Assistant Under Secretary of Human
Resources, Planning and Development at the Ministry of
Education, believes civics classes are valuable since
elections in the UAE are "inevitable." Secondary schools are
allowed to have student body elections, but only a few
schools, such as the Abu Dhabi Secondary School, have elected
student councils. Although Al-Suwaidi says he wants to
promote social studies and democracy in the classroom, he
stated that any mention of Israel is automatically redacted
from textbooks in both public and private schools since the
UAE does not formally recognize the state of Israel.


4. (SBU) In August 7 meeting with Econoff, Dr. Obeid
Al-Muhairi, Director of Curriculum Development at the MOE,
explained that the MOE recently revised the social studies
and civics classes to include more active learning, learning
in groups, and interaction between students. In 2003, the MOE
adopted what he called the "Texas model" for social studies
and civics classes and began teaching civics and social
studies in the first grade. Prior to the revised curriculum,
students did not study civics until the fourth grade. The
social studies and civics classes concentrate on issues
relevant to the lives of children in the UAE. The classes
introduce concepts of sharing opinions, discussing one's
thoughts, ideas and beliefs, and being active as a citizen of
the UAE. Although civics instruction begins in first grade,
the concept of democracy is not introduced until the sixth
grade. While the MOE is making progress in reforming its
curriculum, not all grades use the new curriculum. In the
2006-2007 school year, only grades one through five and

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grades nine and ten will use the reformed civics curriculum.
Other grades will begin using the new curriculum in the
2007-2008 school year.


5. (SBU) Under the new curriculum, students learn about
government institutions and how elections work. Al-Muhairi
said the MOE is teaching democracy and civics "because the
UAE will have elections soon." "It is very important to
teach the concept of democracy so that people will be ready
for democracy when it comes to the UAE -- to ensure that
democracy will not be a foreign concept." Estimating that
democracy will come to the UAE within the next ten years,
Al-Muhairi perceives the upcoming Federal National Council
(FNC) elections as a "step in the right direction" (Ref C).

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Islamic Instruction: Avoiding Extremism
--------------


6. (C) Senior UAEG leaders are expressing clear interest in
education reform, in particular the Islamic studies component
of the general curriculum. During a July 29 lunch meeting
with USG visitors (Ref B),Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MbZ) said the UAE had stopped sending
its Islamic studies students to Saudi Arabia due to concern
over the extremist views of Saudi teachers. (Note. New
Minister of Education, appointed last year, Dr. Haneef Hasan
Al Ali is himself a graduate of Umm Al Qura University in
Mecca, but is strongly reform-minded, having been hand-picked
by UAEG leadership to head and revamp a conservative Ministry
resistant to change. End Note.) The Crown Prince also
remarked that very few UAE students are being sent to Egypt
and that he wants to see diminished Egyptian influence in UAE
schools because, as he put it, "every Egyptian cleric seems
to be supporting Hizballah" (Ref B).


7. (C) Rote memorization of the Koran, characteristic of most
Islamic education, has prompted reform of the Islamic
studies' curriculum in UAE schools ) including sharp
reduction in the number of verses to be memorized. The MOE
also reformed the Islamic studies curriculum so that each
grade studies the Koran in modules. The modules include: 1)
the revelation of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammad, 2) the
application of the Koran to daily life, 3) stories about the
Prophet's life, 4) biographies of persons who have influenced
Islam throughout history, regarded as role models for youth,
5) Islam and the environment, and 6) Islam and the human
race, which examines how cultures interact and how Muslims
may coexist peacefully with people from other cultures and
religions. All modules are taught in each grade, starting
with basic concepts in primary and middle school, increasing
in complexity throughout secondary school.


8. (C) The MOE developed its own Islamic studies curriculum
after studying the systems in Bahrain and Qatar. Al-Muhairi
concluded that the models used in other Gulf countries were
"too extreme." The revised Islamic studies curriculum,
adopted in UAE, is approved by Al Azhar, the oldest Islamic
university in the world, often seen as a voice of moderate
Islam. The UAE is reportedly the first country to use the Al
Azhar-approved model of teaching Islamic studies; other Arab
countries may adopt the same modules in their educational
systems, according to Al-Muhairi who stated that the Ministry
has presented the model to Education Ministries throughout
the Gulf and that all Gulf states, except Saudi Arabia, are
interested in adopting the UAE model. With the exception of
the Islamic schools, Islamic studies are taught for three
hours per week in UAE secondary schools. In contrast, Saudi
Arabia apparently requires twelve hours of Islamic
instruction per week.

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Background checks and teacher training: Who is educating the
UAE youth?
--------------


9. (C) A critical component of the UAE's educational reform
program involves raising the quality of its educators and
ensuring that they neither possess nor transmit extremist
leanings. During the above referenced July 29 meeting,
Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (AbZ) declared
that even a moderate curriculum, if taught by a teacher with
a "twisted mind," is dangerous. Noting the importance of
educating youth, the Foreign Minister remarked categorically
that "we cannot have radical Muslims running our schools; no
matter what subjects they may be experts in" (Ref B). The
same sentiment was expressed by Dr. Al-Muhairi who believes
the UAE needs "balanced, moderate" teachers. To ensure that
it employs "moderate" employees, the MOE began conducting
background checks on all employees in 2004, including Emirati
nationals. However, the depth of the background check

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depends on the employee,s nationality. According to
Al-Muhairi, some background checks currently under review
will not be completed before the school year starts in
September, creating a situation in which the Ministry will be
short on teachers.


10. (C) Recognizing that the MOE lacks qualified teachers,
Dr. Al-Muhairi said the MOE is working on a solution to the
problem. Each Emirate has its own mandatory teacher training
program. The teachers learn teaching methods that encourage
interactive teaching and independent research. The training
programs increasingly require more work from the teachers
since they are now required to conduct &research8 and other
learning apart from the textbooks; Al-Muhairi said that many
do not like the added workload and complain about these new
demands. Beginning in September, the MOE will no longer hire
teachers who do not possess either a teacher's certificate or
a degree in education. Teachers currently employed by the
MOE who do not possess a certificate or a degree in education
will need to qualify within the next two years. In addition,
Al-Muhairi said that all teachers will be required to speak
English since the language is needed in order to conduct
research, search the Internet and develop new teaching
materials.

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Emiratization: Push for UAE Nationals to become Teachers
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11. (SBU) Currently, there are 9,000 male and 14,000 female
teachers in UAE public schools. Government schools are
separated by gender and teachers must be the same gender as
the students. Due to the shortage of male teachers, females
often teach the boys, classes via digital video
conferencing. Only ten percent of the teachers are UAE
national (Emirati) males. The MOE wants to increase the
numbers of UAE national male teachers and plans to provide
incentives in order to attract more to the teaching
profession. Currently, all teachers earn 11,000 Dhs (2997
USD) a month. However, Abu Dhabi Emirate also gives an extra
3000 Dhs (817 USD) a month to Emirati male teachers. The MOE
also plans to give nationwide incentives to encourage male
Emirati students to study education and qualify as teachers.


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Budget Concerns
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12. (SBU) In 2006, the UAEG allocated 36.6 percent of its
total budget to education- 7.2 billion Dhs (almost 2 billion
USD). The 2006 education budget represents a 500 million Dhs
(136 million USD) increase from last year's budget of 6.7
billion Dhs (1.8 billion USD). The budget was increased to
introduce modern technology applications and develop
student's educational and scientific skills. The Emirates of
Abu Dhabi and Dubai both supplement federal education
funding. As such, the schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are
better funded and have more resources. The MOE is
considering allowing schools to have more autonomy in
deciding how they spend their money and may implement rules
similar to the United States' &No Child Left Behind8 law
which gives school districts and principals flexibility in
spending federal education funds in exchange for
accountability for student results. On August 22, Dr. Haneef
Hasan Al Ali, Minister of Education, told Charge and PAO that
more decision-making will be devolved to school principals
and that all principals will soon be required to undergo
training in how to administer schools, encourage creativity
and handle budgets.

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Comment: Much work still ahead
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13. (C) Comment: While there are encouraging signs that the
UAE is taking major steps towards educational reform, the
public school system has been under-funded for many years and
much work remains to be done. Census data showing that over
50 percent of the citizen population is under the age of
twenty underscores the pressure now being placed on the
education system. The initiative to revise curricula has
been prompted by recognition from the UAE leadership of
serious, politically dangerous, and potentially destabilizing
deficiencies. The installation last year of a reform-minded
Minister with Islamic academic credentials to preside over a
conservative, hide-bound Ministry of Education, offers some
prospect for gradual change over time -) provided both the
reformist drive and the all-important funding stream are
maintained. End comment.
QUINN