At least 1,500 teachers will undergo training to better engage pupils in the moral education curriculum.
Moral education classes were introduced in private and government schools in September 2017 to instil tolerance, community spirit and compassion in pupils.
But in March 2019, a government report found that a quarter of UAE schools were not meeting standards in moral education, and that teachers struggled to engage pupils and plan adequately for classes.
The classes are taught without textbooks or exams.
Teachers across the country will undergo training launched by the Education Affairs Office at the Crown Prince Court in Abu Dhabi. To date, 400 teachers from diverse academic backgrounds and educational specialities have already received training, which is delivered in person and digitally.
Pupils are taught four areas of moral education in daily one-hour classes: character and morality, the individual and the community, civic studies and cultural studies.
The programme “builds Emirati identity on good values, ethics and behaviours, deepening the global and positive concept of citizenship”, said Jameela Al Muhairi, the Minister of State for Public Education.
“Building a proper, responsible, balanced, tolerant, creative and interactive personality is one of the visions of the Ministry of Education and the adoption of the Moral Education Curriculum is only a step towards supporting this approach in a precise and promising manner,” said Ms Al Muhairi.
The training programme follows calls by headmasters to better integrate the subject into the curriculum.
“This training programme comes in response to the demands of teachers and the importance of training them to convey the right messages and contribute towards building a generation based on firmly established values and ethics,” said Muhamed Al Nuaimi, the Director of the Education Affairs Office at the Crown Prince Court Abu Dhabi.
