DUBAI // Schools are failing to reach boys and contributing to a growing gender gap in the country, a Ministry of Education report has found.
About 60 per cent of all Grade 4 and Grade 8 boys in the country were found to be ill-prepared in core academic subjects when they took the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test last year.
The study, conducted every four years in more than 40 countries, evaluates the maths and science skills of children aged 10 and 14 to rate the quality of education systems. Last year, more than 28,800 pupils in the UAE participated.
Most of the boys tested lacked the necessary reading, maths and science skills for their age, according to the report.
Grade 4 boys were 18 points behind female pupils in science subjects and eight points behind in maths. In Grade 8, the difference increased in favour of girls. Boys achieved 17 points less than their female peers in maths and 25 points less in science.
In the Programme for International Literacy Reading Study (PILRS), a test conducted at the same time, boys trailed girls by 27 points. Overall, boys were found to have basic subject knowledge but they could only apply it to straightforward situations. They could not comprehend complex situations or use information to solve problems.
A TIMSS and PILRS report, compiled by the Ministry of Education, found “an extensive knowledge divide between boys and girls in the UAE”.
At the report’s launch yesterday, officials said there was an urgent need to reduce the gender gap.
Fatma Al Marri, chief executive of Dubai Schools Agency, which works under the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said the results should be used fruitfully to address concerns.
“We have to understand why there is a gender gap and these assessments give us an idea,” Ms Al Marri said. “Many times the entire blame is put on the teacher. I agree they are important but several other factors contribute to why boys are not performing.”
She believes one of the biggest challenges is to motivate boys to study. “We need to improve boys’ attitudes towards education.They need to be encouraged and that can be done through a better school environment.”
Arab countries showed one of the biggest gender gaps in education, which the report suggests may be because most follow a single-gender schooling system. The gender gap was more pronounced in UAE state schools, which follow such a segregated system, than in private schools.
In Dubai, Grade 8 boys in state schools were lagging by 80 points in science and by 45 points in maths. Grade 4 girls scored 27 points more in maths and 30 points more in science.
By contrast, 10-year-old boys in the International Baccalaureate, Indian and UK school systems scored about 15 points more than their female peers.
Dr Mike Helal, director for the Middle East and North Africa at Parkville Global Advisory, which helped to analyse the Dubai report for the KHDA, said the gender gap reflected the quality of boys schools.
"The gap is not between pupils sitting in the same class," he said. "What we are seeing is a gap in the quality of schooling."
Dr Helal said background surveys conducted during the tests found that boys in state schools were not interested in maths.
“Boys demonstrated a much lower level of engagement, interest and enjoyment in the subject.”
Dr Christina Gitsaki, head of foundation programmes at the Higher Colleges of Technology, said boys needed action and movement to learn.
“The literature shows that boys need to be involved in more kinetic activities,” she said, and that teachers needed to increase their tolerance of noise in the classroom. “You cannot have such learning activities in the classroom and not expect the noise level to go up.”
[ aahmed@thenational.ae ]
All We Imagine as Light
Director: Payal Kapadia
Starring: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Ejari
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Founders: Yazeed Al Shamsi, Fahad Albedah, Mohammed Alkhelewy and Khalid Almunif
Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $1 million
Investors: Sanabil 500 Mena, Hambro Perks' Oryx Fund and angel investors
Number of employees: 8
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Signs of heat stroke
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Forced Deportations
While the Lebanese government has deported a number of refugees back to Syria since 2011, the latest round is the first en-mass campaign of its kind, say the Access Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization which monitors the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“In the past, the Lebanese General Security was responsible for the forced deportation operations of refugees, after forcing them to sign papers stating that they wished to return to Syria of their own free will. Now, the Lebanese army, specifically military intelligence, is responsible for the security operation,” said Mohammad Hasan, head of ACHR.
In just the first four months of 2023 the number of forced deportations is nearly double that of the entirety of 2022.
Since the beginning of 2023, ACHR has reported 407 forced deportations – 200 of which occurred in April alone.
In comparison, just 154 people were forcfully deported in 2022.
Violence
Instances of violence against Syrian refugees are not uncommon.
Just last month, security camera footage of men violently attacking and stabbing an employee at a mini-market went viral. The store’s employees had engaged in a verbal altercation with the men who had come to enforce an order to shutter shops, following the announcement of a municipal curfew for Syrian refugees.
“They thought they were Syrian,” said the mayor of the Nahr el Bared municipality, Charbel Bou Raad, of the attackers.
It later emerged the beaten employees were Lebanese. But the video was an exemplary instance of violence at a time when anti-Syrian rhetoric is particularly heated as Lebanese politicians call for the return of Syrian refugees to Syria.
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
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Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
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Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
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10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
A MAN FROM MOTIHARI
Author: Abdullah Khan
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 304
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Company profile
Company name: Hayvn
Started: 2018
Founders: Christopher Flinos, Ahmed Ismail
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Sector: financial
Initial investment: undisclosed
Size: 44 employees
Investment stage: series B in the second half of 2023
Investors: Hilbert Capital, Red Acre Ventures
UAE medallists at Asian Games 2023
Gold
Magomedomar Magomedomarov – Judo – Men’s +100kg
Khaled Al Shehi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Faisal Al Ketbi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Asma Al Hosani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -52kg
Shamma Al Kalbani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -63kg
Silver
Omar Al Marzooqi – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Bishrelt Khorloodoi – Judo – Women’s -52kg
Khalid Al Blooshi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Mohamed Al Suwaidi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -69kg
Balqees Abdulla – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -48kg
Bronze
Hawraa Alajmi – Karate – Women’s kumite -50kg
Ahmed Al Mansoori – Cycling – Men’s omnium
Abdullah Al Marri – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Team UAE – Equestrian – Team showjumping
Dzhafar Kostoev – Judo – Men’s -100kg
Narmandakh Bayanmunkh – Judo – Men’s -66kg
Grigorian Aram – Judo – Men’s -90kg
Mahdi Al Awlaqi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -77kg
Saeed Al Kubaisi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Shamsa Al Ameri – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -57kg
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
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RESULT
Everton 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Everton: Sigurdsson (47'), Calvert-Lewin (73')
Man of the Match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
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MADAME WEB
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tahar Rahim, Sydney Sweeney
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A Round of Applause
Director: Berkun Oya
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.