ABU DHABI // Pupils will no longer choose between streams of study after a unified curriculum placing more emphasis on science subjects is introduced this year.
The move to a single curriculum will produce graduates who are better suited to the demands of the country’s labour market, Abu Dhabi Education Council said on Wednesday.
Science, technology, engineering and maths, or Stem, will make up nearly 50 per cent of a unified state school curriculum for Years 10 to 12.
Pupils entering Year 11 have had to choose between science or humanities, which they study until graduation.
Last year 79 per cent chose humanities, which includes less complex maths and sciences, said Dr Alaaeldin Aly, Adec head of knowledge management.
“Eighty per cent of the students are studying these kinds of courses and there are no jobs for them,” Dr Aly said.
“You have to adjust to the labour market, so to adjust you have to start with the schools.
“The leadership wants more industries relying not on oil to build an economy that will produce knowledge.”
Dr Aly said the revised curriculum would also better prepare graduates to enter university without having to go through the foundation year, which will be scrapped by federal universities in the 2017-2018 academic year.
The unified system will be introduced for Year 11 pupils in August. They will spend 21 periods a week studying Stem subjects, including eight of maths, four physics and six periods devoted to two science options.
They must also choose a technology class such as ICT, creative design or computer programming, which will take up three periods a week.
Fifty-five per cent of the pupil’s final grade will come from Stem classes.
The other classes will be compulsory and comprise 14 periods of language and speech communication, six of humanities, three of health and activities and one period of career counselling and test preparation.
The curriculum will be introduced to Year 12 pupils at the start of the 2016-2017 year.
Pupils will still be taught in Arabic but the bilingual Abu Dhabi School Model, previously called the New School Model, will still be introduced into the higher grades.
The model, in which pupils receive maths and sciences lessons in English, will be introduced to Year 8 next academic year. A new grade will be added each year afterwards.
“We need the student to be able to communicate using both languages and be proficient also in applying those languages on the daily basis,” said Dr Najwa Al Hosani, Adec’s curriculum division manager.
“We need them to be able to present something in English, be confident with their proficiency and be able to correctly communicate with others.”
Students in the reformed high school curriculum will also spend one period a year receiving career training and test preparation classes.
“The reformed curriculum is designed to prepare students to engage in practical life and adhere to lifelong learning,” Dr Al Hosani said.
“It also provides them with the fundamental skills and experiences that will help enhance their chances of joining higher education institutes without the need to take a foundation programme, or assume a job in mostly needed scientific areas such as science, technology and engineering, which play a vital role in achieving the goals of Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
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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