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The United Arab Emirates ( Uae )

Better Essays

A Case of Education Reform in a GCC Country
A Study and Recommendations

By
Ayman Sholkani
100952244

ALDS 5202
December 2014

INTRODUCTION

By the beginning of the second Millennium, many countries realized the need and necessity to cope up with the rest of the rapidly developing world. As they realized this necessity, they also realized that the key to growth and development is, indeed, education. As a result, many countries around the world entered the heated race of reforming their education systems hoping that this would ensure them a foothold in the modern world.

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries were among the countries that gave remarkable importance and attention to reforming their education systems. Some GCC countries ventured taking highly ambitious and radical measures to reform its education system. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a good example and is the context that this paper focuses on. Christine Thorne (2011) reports that “it is clear that the leadership of the country is exerting great pressure for reform in schools and there is a sense of urgency about the need for large-scale change”. Some of the measures taken by the educational leadership were really successful and obviously led to other successes on smaller scales i.e. seeking professional development on the part of teachers; while some other measures were seen as disastrous i.e. sacking a considerable number of really qualified math and science teachers due to their failure

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