According to the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), plans to staff schools with more Emirati teachers are being hampered because federal universities are producing education graduates with the wrong skills. The New School Model, introduced in Abu Dhabi primary schools in 2010, requires teachers to give lessons in multiple subjects and be proficient in English–and universities are not preparing students to meet those requirements. Instead, graduate teachers specialize in either English, math, or science and are unfamiliar with both the syllabus and the teaching methods required in classrooms.
The proportion of Emirati staff in ADEC schools has increased this year from 43% to 46%. To fill the gap, the authority had to recruit 1,000 teachers from the U.S., the U.K., and Australia.