Education in the UAE Past and Present
The United Arab Emirates has 200 years old history related to education, which first started with Islamic studies of the Quran and Hadith, Hence, in today's time UAE is one of the countries that have high literacy rates. There was a time when only Islamic education was allowed in the Middle East and Arab countries. Although after the modernization and evolution of technology everything is accessible to the people. Ultimately, UAE also had the same situation and needed the change after its independence in 1971 even though it had the resources of oil transport. Thus, a miracle happened after just a few years of hard work and the UAE became one of the major oil-producing states all around the world. Let's have a look at the past of the United Arab Emirates in education.
Educational Background of the UAE
If we have to understand the roots of the educational background of the UAE then we have to go deeper even before the independence of the land of seven emirates. So, let's discuss them from the beginning.
Period of the Matawa & Katateeb
In the early 18s, there weren’t any basic primary schools in these lands and only Islamic education was available, because of that parents used to send their children to Islamic Imams who were known as Matawas. Hence, Islamic teachers used to teach the students about the Quran Pak and Hadith in mosques. By the passing of time community authorities build Katateebs, in English, we call them schools. Matawa used to be the noble person of the community at that time and he used to accept gifts from his students every month as a fee for teaching them about Islamic history and guidance.
Rise of Education after World War 1
After the destructive events of World War I certain movements started to reopen schools for the sake of student welfare, even though UAE was under the British Empire, the revolutionary leaders always made sure to keep the schools open for their youth. Thus, courses were limited at that time due to the colonial state of Arab people at that time.
Modern Education System
After the Independence, when this land of Arab got its name as the United Arab Emirates education became free for every other person. Hence, for kids, it becomes mandatory to get admission to primary schools. Even now the educational administrations are highly active in spreading awareness regarding education and its benefits. In 1976, United Arab Emirates University was established, which is now one of the oldest universities in the UAE.
Education of UAE in Present Time
Student exchange programs are the prime example of the success of the UAE in the education sector. In addition, there are around 578 public schools, 79 institutions and 33 noted universities established. Furthermore, there are also private tuition centers where students are getting assignment help, writing assistance and project guidelines. In the same way, the universities of UAE rank among the top universities in the world. Thus, few of them are mentioned below:
- American University of Sharjah
- Khalifa University
- United Arab Emirates University
- The University of Wollongong in Dubai
- Abu Dhabi University
Lastly, UAE is now one of those countries that are encouraging students to continue their higher education in their universities. So, for students around the world, the UAE is always open for applicants, who want to start their higher education on higher notes.