DUBAI // More than half the teachers who applied for Dubai’s new teacher’s licence failed the qualifying test.
Only 106 of the 223 in the Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards pilot programme passed their exams and qualified for their licences.
Another 67 passed all of the tests but now need to complete English language training or preparation qualifications before they are given the licence.
Fifty teachers will have to resit the course.
Naji Al Mahdi of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority said lessons learnt from the pilot would be used to improve the process.
“We all learnt a lot from the pilot process and although there were challenges, we are already looking forward to our new batch of teachers in September,” Mr Al Mahdi said.
He said most of those who failed missed only one module.
“The figures aren’t as bad as they first appear, because those who missed out did so by narrow margins,” he said.
He was speaking on Monday at the successful teachers’ graduation ceremony in Academic City.
All of the 51 teachers who had international teaching licences passed, while 92 of the 138 who did not have international licences also passed.
“There are of course many teachers who have extensive teaching experience in schools in the emirate and they will have to take the qualification and pass within the next four years,” Mr Al Mahdi said.
The regulator is aiming to have the 17,000-plus teachers in private schools licensed by 2021. They will initially be allowed to take the test three times.
Those with existing international qualifications have to take only the ethics and professional standards module of the assessment, Mr Al Mahdi said.
The pilot phase, which ran from May to September, evaluated the effectiveness of the licensing process and involved feedback from teachers and school leaders taking part.
Nikita Maharaj-Delpeche, from Trinidad and Tobago, was a teaching assistant at Gems Bradenton Preparatory Academy. She is now a licensed teacher after achieving one of the highest scores in the exams.
“I didn’t have any international qualifications but took part in the training provided by Tellal,” Ms Maharaj-Delpeche said. “It was a tough process because I was working in the classroom while at the same time studying for the tests.
“Once everyone has this licence then at least you know there is a set standard that every teacher will have met and that will raise the quality of teaching.”
Richard Drew, principal of Jumeira Baccalaureate School, took the course and was relieved to have passed.
“Over the next four years all of our teachers will come through the licensing process,” Mr Drew said. “This licensing scheme can only be a good thing in raising the quality of standards.”
Private schools will now be responsible for putting their teachers through the licensing process and all private-school teachers in the UAE must be licensed over the next four years.
The pilot scheme was developed with the British University in Dubai and the National Qualifications Authority.
Full implementation of the licence will begin at the start of the new academic year in September.
nhanif@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
