Arabic lessons daily in all UAE private schools for kindergarten pupils

Ministry of Education encourages use of language to promote local culture

The Ministry of Education has set out new guidelines to strengthen national identity and help preserve the Arabic language. Photo: Adek

All private schools in the UAE must teach Arabic to kindergarten-age pupils for 40 minutes each day from the start of the new academic year in support of a nationwide push to champion the use of the language from an early age.

The Ministry of Education on Sunday announced the directive as part of a wider plan to instil Emirati and Arabic values and culture.

The strategy mandates that Arabic language lessons be held for 200 minutes a week (40 minutes daily), increasing to 300 minutes (an hour a day) by the 2027/2028 academic year in all private schools, across all approved curriculums.

The ministry said Arabic will be taught by qualified early childhood teachers using approved educational resources and age-appropriate teaching methods, suitable for native and non-native speakers.

The kindergarten stage is typically taught over two years in UAE schools, from the age of four.

Under the new policy, Islamic studies will be taught to all Muslim children in kindergarten years for 90 minutes each week, divided into two 45-minute lessons or three each lasting for 30 minutes.

Private schools must also include social studies in kindergarten education, which will focus on concepts of family, UAE geography and environment, social values and wider social studies.

These will be taught through simplified, play-based approaches throughout the daily school programme, inside and outside the classroom.

"This initiative aims to strengthen the national values of children from an early age, nurturing a generation that is proud of its national identity, proficient in its mother tongue, and well-grounded in the values of family, society, and the geography and environment of the UAE," the ministry said.

The ministry will provide private schools with instructional frameworks for all three subject areas before the start of the new school year at the end of August.

The new guidelines will come into effect in the new school year, supported by advisory visits to private schools.

In partnership with educational authorities, the ministry will also conduct regular inspections starting from the 2026/2027 academic year to verify compliance with the guidelines.

The move comes soon after Abu Dhabi announced a similar initiative to integrate Arabic language into preschool earning.

Promoting the Arabic language

In 2023, Abu Dhabi unveiled plans to rank private schools on their efforts to promote UAE culture and tradition and encourage use of the Arabic language among Emirati pupils.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge — the capital's private education regulator — launched the National Identity Mark, an annual school rating system aimed at measuring work being done to integrate core Emirati values into studies.

In June 2022, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, urged teachers to promote Arabic in schools.

He stressed the importance of the use of Arabic, and focusing on the need to develop new teaching methods for the language as well as encouraging youngsters to learn it.

“The Arabic language is our belonging to the Quran,” he said in an address to teaching staff at the Sharjah Education Academy.

“The Arabic language is a stockpile of our history, our knowledge and our culture. The Arabic language is what holds firm our belief in our religion. The Arabic language is what unites us from the furthest corners of the Earth — from the far East to the far West, we are united under one language.”

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in May last year that there was an urgent need to foster Arabic language skills in young people.