The Ministry of Education announced the completion of all preparations for the new academic year 2024-2025 and the 100% readiness of government schools to receive students when they return to their school seats next Monday, August 26, 2024, through the tireless efforts made by all teams during the past period to ensure an ideal start to the new academic year.
This came during a media briefing organised by the Ministry in cooperation with the UAE Government Media Office at the Zayed Educational Complex in Al Warqaa, Dubai, in the presence of Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of Education, Eng. Mohammed Al Qassim, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Sulaiman Al Kaabi, Executive Director of the Student Quality of Life Sector, Dr. Omar Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director of the Institutional Services Sector, and a number of representatives of local media outlets.
During the briefing, Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri explained that the Ministry had developed comprehensive proactive plans before the end of the last academic year to prepare for receiving students in the new academic year by developing, improving and supporting the school environment with all its elements, from educational cadres, infrastructure and support services, in coordination with the relevant authorities to complete all preparations before the start of the new academic year.
Her Excellency announced that the Ministry has worked on a number of comprehensive updates to the evaluation policies based on scientific foundations and following the best practices aimed at improving the quality of educational outcomes in a way that meets the aspirations of the wise leadership of the United Arab Emirates. The updates include the policy for evaluating the weights of the three academic semesters, the percentages of formative and central evaluations, and others.
During the briefing, Her Excellency reviewed the details of calculating the approved weight percentages for the next academic year and explained that these updates will contribute to developing the student’s educational journey, as the weight of the first semester will be 35% as it is the longest semester, while the weight of the second semester will be 30%, and the weight of the third semester will be 35% for the second and third cycles, stressing that the weights have been distributed and updated according to the school days for each semester and the expected educational outcomes for each semester, which will contribute to achieving the required balance in the comprehensive evaluation process for students.
Her Excellency pointed out that the Ministry has updated the percentage of continuous formative assessment throughout the semesters to become 40%, while the percentage of the final central assessment held at the end of each semester has become 60% for the second and third cycles. These updates come based on an analysis of students’ achievement results, which showed the importance of measuring students’ scientific and skill attainment throughout the year, without being satisfied with evaluating central tests at the end of each semester.
Her Excellency explained that the central exam in the second semester for second-cycle students has been replaced with a project that measures students’ skills, with the aim of improving their skills and transforming their theoretical knowledge into practical applications that enrich their knowledge.
Her Excellency also announced the Ministry’s launch of a national campaign under the slogan “From Student to Leader” coinciding with the return of students to schools. This campaign aims to engage all segments of society and urge them to play their role in an integrated manner to support today’s students and contribute to creating future leaders. The campaign includes four axes targeting the educational system, teachers, parents, and students.
For his part, Eng. Mohammed Al Qasim confirmed that the Ministry has formed a special committee to supervise all operational processes for the new academic year since last January, where work teams of engineers and specialists supervised all school maintenance operations and ensured their readiness according to the highest standards to ensure a healthy and safe environment for students and educational staff. 25 schools were opened, including 12 new schools and 13 schools that were under comprehensive maintenance.
He revealed that the Ministry’s teams are working on maintaining 311 schools, including school buildings and facilities, and related development and quality control operations for the infrastructure in all government schools. Supporting services also included printing 10 million copies of textbooks, while the number of printed books that were converted into digital books reached 3,706,000 books, as part of the Ministry’s keenness to support digital educational resources in all schools. In addition, 34,000 laptops will be distributed to students in the fifth and ninth grades.
Regarding transportation services, the Ministry cooperated with service providers to conduct comprehensive maintenance of all school buses according to the highest safety and security standards, as the number of school buses exceeds 5,000 buses. Work was also done to distribute school transportation lines to ensure an easy and comfortable daily school trip for students.
Student Quality of Life
The Ministry confirmed that it is currently working on the largest field survey at the level of the education sector in the country to establish a strategic framework for the quality of student life. An integrated matrix of classroom and extracurricular activities and training programs will be designed and more than 30 projects will be activated during the new academic year with the aim of refining and developing students’ cognitive, cultural and social skills. The activities and events that will be included in the matrix will include many qualitative programs and initiatives that aim to enhance an educational environment that nurtures talented students.
The Ministry stated that due to the great positive impact achieved by the Freejna School project, which was launched last May, work will be done to expand the scope of the project to include a greater number of schools, and a number of agreements will be signed with specialized local partners to develop the program to include more sports, scientific and cultural programs.
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