Being taught in English 'undermines local identity'

Decision to employ foreign teachers comes under attack from UAE educators who say students should learn in their mother tongue.

Humaid Mohammed Obaid al Qutami, the Minister of Education, speaks with Fatema Mohammed, a student at Al Dhabiania School in Abu Dhabi, during a visit on Monday.

ABU DHABI // A recent move by Abu Dhabi education officials to employ native English-speaking teachers has been labelled by local educators as an "external intervention" that will erode the cultural and national identity of students. 
Dr Maryam Sultan Lootah, the assistant professor of political science at the UAE University, said the Ministry of Education's approach to revamping the system has ignored many aspects necessary for success.
"Foreign experts come in and draft these programmes without understanding the cultural sensibilities," said Dr Lootah, who has analysed the UAE's education policies and its implementation in the past four decades. Dr Lootah was a panellist at the Education in the UAE: Current Status and Future Developments conference that began yesterday at The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR).
"Most of the ministry's budget was spent on these experts and local programmes were never given a chance," she said. The two-day ECSSR conference was opened by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who underscored the urgent need to reduce the gulf between education in government schools and higher education. More than 90 per cent of UAE nationals that enter federal universities in the country require remedial courses in English before they go on the degree programmes. 
"We have to get rid of the remedial programmes that are a financial and psychological burden on the country and community at large," he said.  But, according to Dr Lootah, the emphasis on teaching in the English language at the university level undermines the Arabic language. "If we decide to teach only a few subjects in Arabic, then we must not complain that we have lost our identity." In 1999, authorities announced Vision 2020 under Dr Ali Abdel Aziz al Sharhan, the minister of what was then known as the Ministry of Education and Youth. The reforms had to be scrapped because it did not resonate with the local teachers, who felt they were being forced into accepting methods created by foreigners.
This year, the Ministry of Education launched the Education Strategy 2010-2020, and similar concerns are being raised again by educators who want the ministry to work towards improved Emiratisation. The strategy aims, among 50 other objectives, to reduce instances of students requiring a foundation year before entering universities, provide teacher training and increase the number of male teachers.
The Madaras Al Ghad programme, run by the ministry, as well as the Abu Dhabi Education Council's (Adec) new school model and other public-private projects has seen thousands of education professionals recruited from countries including the US, UK and Australia. The ministry also recruited advisers from these countries for curriculum development.  Although there is a documented shortage of qualified UAE national educators, Hessa Ali, mathematics supervisor for 11 schools in Ras al Khaimah, said she believes the ministry does not need to recruit teachers from abroad.
"We have good teachers here who are qualified and most importantly who speak with the students in their mother tongue," Ms Ali said. "These students speak in Arabic at home and when they come to school they can barely communicate with the teacher, so how will they learn?" She said she would prefer all subjects to be taught in Arabic. "English can be a second language that can be improved through good teaching material and teachers."
Dr Lynn Pierson, head of P-12 education policy sector at Adec, said the new school model has not altered the curriculum to damage the cultural identity of the country. "The model does not recommend making English the dominant language; the concept is introduced to the children in their mother tongue and then reinforced in English," Dr Pierson said. "This is not an imported western model. The only change is in the pedagogy that we want the teachers to adopt."
[e-mail]