Part I: Descriptive Section

Introduction

In order to set up the proper framework for the evaluation of national efforts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in view of achieving the goal of Education for All (EFA) in the year 2000, and in accordance with the 1990 Jomtien Conference, this section of the report presents the goals of the education policy of the Emirates in line with the general framework of the World Declaration, mainly as regards early childhood care, primary education, literacy and adult education. This section covers also the activities undertaken in this field in the last decade of the twentieth century, regional, sub-regional and international coordination efforts, and general and specific consultations in these fields. It provides also an overview of the decision-makers and of all those concerned with the administration of the proposed activities.

Expansion of early childhood care and development activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children

The educational goals of the children's education in kindergartens are derived from the broader goal of human development of children in this stage, as well as the present intellectual tendencies. The Ministry of Education and Youth in the UAE adopted these goals with clear fundamental guiding principals, providing a comprehensive and complete education for children. They are as follows:

1. Developing the children's intuition and monitoring their moral, intellectual and physical growth in accordance with the principles of the Muslim religion.
2. Helping the children to acquire the conceptual principals that match their age and their needs.
3. Helping the children to acquire the proper behavioral moral rules that match their age by giving them a good example.
4. Developing the national feeling by means of social and national activities related to the children's life and local community.
5. Familiarizing the children with the school, introducing them progressively into the school's social life, and developing their reading and writing skills.
6. Enriching the children's vocabulary by teaching them the right expressions and the easiest syntax according to their age and related to their life and direct social environment.
7. Developing the children's intellectual development by encouraging them to search, discover, and invent.
8. Encouraging the children to take decisions, express their opinions, take initiatives and ask questions.

The main foundations of the kindergarten philosophy in the UAE are derived from:

1. the Islamic and Arab character of the Emirati society.
2. The social change in the Emirati society.
3. The changes within the Emirati family due to the social, economic, and cultural changes.
4. The present tendencies in the field of kindergarten education.

Universal access to, and completion of, basic education by the year 2000.

The goals of basic education are concomitant with the broader goals of the State's education policy. They are the following:

1. Building a comprehensive human personality in terms of concepts, behavior, skills, and performance; strengthening the Muslim faith in its utmost expression; and teaching the children a number of religious duties according to their age.
2. Reinforcing the national, Arab and Islamic feeling, deepening the national responsibility and affiliation, and strengthening the cultural identity.
3. Adopting the Arabic language as a teaching and communication language with other cultures in the light of the Islamic Arab culture.
4. Working in an organized and continuous way to overcome the obstacles and acquire a larger amount of information and knowledge, with better quality and precision, about the facts of social life.
5. Stirring the children's enthusiasm for education and knowledge, developing their skills and tendencies, and harmonizing schools.
6. Helping the children to acquire a practical mode of thinking according to their age and capabilities, securing them psychologically, and helping them to understand the facts of life.
7. Appreciating beauty, the love of nature and the benefits of life and developing the children's observation, imagination and innovation skills according to their capabilities and competencies.
8. Developing the diverse skills and the creativeness of the children, and heightening their awareness of their rights and duties.

Third – Goals for private education in the UAE:

1. Coordinating the efforts in general and vocational education according to plans and programmes adopted by the Ministry of Education and Youth.
2. Developing the study of foreign languages in addition to the official curriculum.
3. Adopting special curriculum for foreign nationals.

Improvement of learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort attains or surpasses a defined level of necessary learning achievement

1. Improving the present state of learning achievement in our schools at all levels, by defining its means, tools, procedures and the parties concerned.
2. Defining the efficient means ensuring a learning achievement in accordance with the age of progress, technology and information; and defining the inadequate means leading to a superficial and obsolete access to education.
3. Reviewing the current means of learning achievement which limit the pupils' interaction with their environment, community and epoch; and finding the adequate contemporary substitutes that correspond to the available resources.
4. Clarifying the teachers' role as the main actors in learning achievement; and modernizing and developing their competencies through continuous training according to the changing needs.
5. Assessing the educational process as a primary indicator of the pupil's level of learning achievement, while taking into consideration the remaining components of the curriculum, such as the goals, the contents, the procedures, the activities, and the means.
6. Introducing radical reforms in the inputs of the education system, for they will certainly improve the learning achievement to the required level.

Reduction of the adult illiteracy rate by the year 2000 to one-half its 1990 level, with sufficient emphasis on female literacy to significantly reduce the current disparities between male and female illiteracy rates.

1. Expending basic education and training institutions for all the basic skills required by youth and adults, while assessing the programmes' efficiency as to the behavioral changes they produce and their impact on productive health and labor.
2. Deepening the Islamic and national feeling by recalling the glories and the flourishing civilization of the Islamic and Arab nation; and heightening the awareness of individuals for their environment and their rights and duties.
3. Using the Arabic language.
4. Acquiring information and arithmetical skills.
5. Developing a positive preference for honest professions and jobs.
6. Being aware of the foundations, causes and problems of the Arab nation.
7. Keeping in touch with the achievements and innovations around the world.
8. Empowering the learners to complete their learning in the various fields of adult education.

* The general goals were defined according to the general tendencies of the State and the education policy as well as the global illiteracy campaign. It also took into consideration the general goals and the various skills in basic education.

Expansion of provisions of basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults, with programme effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioral changes and impacts on health, employment and productivity.

The pursued goal is to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2000. However, there is still a strong need to face the high drop-out rates in primary and secondary education, which may create social problems especially as regards the mismatch between the learning outputs and the needs of the labor market; the main reason being the lack of a series of technical and practical skills. Therefore, the national education development strategy in the UAE, provided for in the 2000 Vision, comprises a project for adult education and lifelong education, aiming at achieving the following strategic targets:

1. Instituting a lifelong education society and linking formal education to informal education.
2. Filling the gap for those dropping-out from school and preserving basic education skills.
3. Achieving sustainable human development.
4. Linking adult education programmes with technical and vocational training programmes.
5. Elaborating essential skills reinforcement programmes.
6. Studying the present state of the illiteracy problem, using the available statistics and data.

Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development, made available through all education channels, including the mass media, other forms of modern and traditional communication and social action, with effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioral change.

1. Providing access to stimulating information for the targeted public and public opinion in order to expend the participation in the learning process and prepare for the educational development and renewal processes before their implementation, so as to be accepted by the public opinion and the targeted groups benefiting from them.
2. Determining the public and private opinion's attitudes towards the public education institution and in particular, the outputs of the educational development and renewal projects. They should be submitted, on a regular basis, to the Policy and Decision-making Body in the Ministry, while providing counseling for the Ministry's institutions concerning the media procedures to be taken, depending on the public opinion's attitude.
3. Launching information campaigns to prepare the public opinion to adopt the educational development policies and plans.
4. Providing access to newly published information for the administrative, educational, and research personnel, and encouraging their proper use.
5. Providing explanatory and stimulating information for those working in the education field and also for the public opinion, to facilitate the adoption of the educational development and renewal policies and plans.
6. Organizing and regulating the communication channels between the Ministry and the mass media (press, radio and television).
7. Paying particular attention to the critics of the public opinion (complains and proposals) formulated against the education system. The Ministry's units should use them as a feedback to respond positively to these critics.
8. Organizing educational conferences with the adequate follow up, as well as seminars and colloquiums in coordination with the various organs and institutions in the Ministry.

Strategy and Plan of Action

First – Early childhood care and development strategies and plans of action:

The kindergarten cycle is the basic stage preparing for primary education. It is indeed a strong bridge transporting the little child from the confined world of his family home to the diversified school environment. The kindergarten cycle has nowadays its own educational philosophy, sophisticated educational requirements, comprehensive educational goals encompassing behavior, knowledge, emotions and skills, and modern curricula.

Therefore, the educational authorities in the UAE consider the kindergarten cycle as an inherent part of the public education system, not to say a component of a single unit. For this purpose, they created an educational institution providing care for the children between 4 and 6 years of age, such as to attain comprehensive and balanced growth for children in all physical, intellectual, psychological aspects, in addition to strengthening and developing their abilities through games and free activities.

The educational and psychological studies undertaken in the developed countries nowadays, show the growing interest in early childhood. It is in fact a critical stage with clearly defined characteristics, that serve as a basis for the renewal of the kindergartens educational programmes.

The main foundations and the national strategic procedure for early childhood care and development (ECCD) in the UAE are as follows:

Comprehensiveness and flexibility are the main characteristics of the present kindergarten curriculum in the UAE. It aims mainly at developing the children's experiences, behaviors and tendencies, and pays particular attention to the rapid growth of children. The Ministry adopted the principle of expertise units in 1982; a modern curriculum for kindergartens was introduced in 99/2000 on the basis of the principle of self-education.

The Ministry asked the administration responsible for kindergartens and primary education to supervise primary public schools, through executing the following tasks:

1. Ensuring the follow up of the education and learning processes in public kindergartens and primary schools, according to the rules and the consecrated procedures. This will be made possible through the instructors and the educational zones, as well as local visits and the related reports and analysis, so as to deduce the stimulating or impeding elements.
2. Creating or redistributing kindergartens and primary schools according to the Ministry's plans, policies and resources, while respecting the geographical and demographic requirements, so as to improve the educational service's performance and ensure it's balanced distribution among regions.
3. Elaborating new rules for acceptance, registration and transfer according to the Ministry's regulations. However, the executive power shall remain vested in the educational zones, on their own or upon reference to the competent schools concerned.
4. Discussing the needs in terms of human resources and proposing selection standards for all technical jobs, whether by appointment, transfer, or promotion; and participating in their distribution.
5. Determining, in association with the administrations concerned, the qualifications for clubs and playgrounds and the required material.
6. Submitting a draft gradual agenda aiming at two purposes. First, applying the principle of compulsory primary education according to the ministries' regulations and the available material and human resources; second, eradicating the drop-out phenomenon and regulating it's potential pursuance or expansion.
7. Working jointly with other administrations in the activities requiring them to play a certain role in kindergartens and primary schools.

In reference to the goals stipulated by the Law on private education, the management strategy of private education grants licenses for building new private education institutions or expending or rehabilitating old ones, in conformity with the procedures provided for in the federal legislation and its executive draft law.

1. The Ministry agrees on the starting and ending dates of the school-year, provided that the number of learning days are not less than those in public schools.
2. Private schools close on official holidays.
3. Arabic private schools adopt the public curriculum or any other curriculum as decided by the Ministry. Other manuals may be used in these schools following a prior approval of the Ministry.

While foreign private schools are compelled to:

1. Teach its Muslim pupils the Islamic education compulsory course according to the curriculum decided by the Ministry.
2. Teach all its pupils the Arabic language compulsory course.
3. Teach the social courses according to the curriculum decided by the Ministry.
4. Obtain the Ministry's prior approval for the introduction of any modification in the building, curriculum, or manuals.
5. Submit all new manuals used for the first time to the Ministry for checking and licensing.
6. Elaborate a comprehensive progress report on their activities at the end of each school-year; and provide health and social care for their pupils.

The improvement of learning achievement is one of the main goals of the educational strategy, involving all the Ministry's bodies, educational zones, and schools which participate in its elaboration, implementation and drawing of its results. Therefore, all plans of action, of whatever length, should give the top priority to this goal.

The following steps can serve as a basis for the plan of action, in order to assess the progress made so far in learning achievement, and therefore improve it if the results aren't up to expectations:

1. Choosing male and female pupils from some schools to serve as a research sample, to evaluate the progress made in effective learning achievement in the various courses.
2. Assessing the essential skills acquired by the pupils in the fields of reading, writing, arithmetic, and logical thinking in primary, preparatory and secondary schools, to evaluate the extent to which the set goals where achieved (in each of them).

The main strategy, plans and programmes are extremely pragmatic and ambitious, for they are based on what have been achieved so far in this field. Consequently, they recognize the need for the illiterates to have access to modern production means, which require the acquisition of reading and numeracy skills, the capability to deal with newly emerging cultural concepts and therefore understanding the related scientific principles, laws and scope of application. A clearly defined strategy is therefore needed to reach this goal.

Special curricula and guidelines covering all the stages of literacy and adult education were elaborated in view of achieving the general goal and the State's specific goals. A particular attention was given to vocational education, thus giving a genuine image of the adult education's policy, aiming at responding to the needs of the labor market in the UAE.

The Ministry of Education and Youth registered positive results in the last decade, in reinforcing and rehabilitating the education system. This was made possible through the administration of public relations, educational publicity and media, and coordination and follow up with private and mass State-run media regarding the education and learning processes. The educational media section participates in the preparation and production of programmes providing information related to the Ministry and the educational process in general. Indeed, some of these programmes focus on educational courses, awareness, advise and counseling, in addition to the programmes on educational matters, comments and researches.

The administration of kindergartens and primary schools is mainly responsible for the provision of educational services for ECCD. Given that it is one of the administrations of the department of educational affairs in the Ministry of Education, it is financed from the Ministry's annual budget, comprising three subdivisions: wages and salaries; services; and special expenditures. But the higher authorities in the Ministry must approve first any development project financed by the Ministry's budget.

There are also independent kindergartens financed by the women's federation and associations. The curricula are the same as those applied in public kindergartens. The annual coordination with the Ministry of Education and Youth helps to define the needs of the administrative, technical and teaching personnel. An employee form Ministry is therefore delegated to work in the federation or association concerned.

The administration of kindergartens and primary schools is the main party in the Ministry of Education and Youth entitled to take decisions regarding the strategy and plan of action for basic education. It is also responsible for the improvement of work in primary schools according to the proposals of the education experts, in order to find the most appropriate substitutes.

The higher authority in the Ministry of Education and Youth struggles to provide basic education requirements for the pupils in the primary cycle, on the material, moral, and psychological levels. Such requirements include the intellectual, psychological, social and material needs, related to the school building and affiliates.

The factors affecting basic education enrollment, the education and learning processes and their results, are as follows:

1. The state of the school buildings and classrooms.
2. The availability of school manuals and other educational tools.
3. Providing professional support for and supervision on all teachers.
4. Interactivity between the school and the society.
5. The policies and the practices affecting the integration or isolation of handicapped children or those suffering from learning difficulties.

According to the guidelines of the State's education policy, the studies made on pupils in State-run schools, and in application of the provisions of the Constitution, the decisions regulating the provision of care services for those suffering from social, health, educational, and psychological handicaps and their professional rehabilitation, an organizational framework was set up for the Ministry of Education and Youth, by virtue of the ministerial decree n.10 of 1980. It provides for a special department for private education where the administration of social services defines and diagnoses the cases of handicap, in coordination with the local authorities.

The administration of private education is one of the administrations affiliated to the department of educational affairs. The decision-making is based on the adequate information, upon consultation between the Director of the administration and the assistant officer for the department of educational affairs.

The organization chart of the administration of private education is as follows:

1. Private schools are compelled to respect the Islamic and Arab principles and values, the country's customs and traditions, and the national identity.
2. Private schools are submitted to the control of the competent organs in the Ministry, to follow up, assess, and develop the educational process, and to ensure the proper implementation of the law of private education.

The Ministry took a series of decisions to improve learning achievement, among which:

1. Calling in new highly qualified male and female teachers and instructors, and providing them with continuous training.
2. Setting rules and regulations for the going up from one class to another according to the evaluation and examination lists.
3. Reinforcing the link between the school and the family by creating councils of parents and teachers, holding regular meetings between parents and pupils on one hand, and teachers and school administrations on the other.
4. Defining the pupil density in each semester of each cycle, in order to improve learning achievement.
5. Providing modern school buildings, scientific and linguistic laboratories, and educational tools in order to improve learning achievement.

A series of regulatory decisions have been adopted to organize the educational process in adult literacy and education centers:

1. Enrollment and admission list in adult education centers, determining the categories admitted in these centers.
2. Evaluation and examination list in adult education centers, determining the education cycles and the school-year's divisions in these centers.
3. Financial rules.
4. Organizational list of work in adult education centers.

1. Powers and competency of the administration of adult literacy and education:

1. Preliminary adoption of plans and required activities in the field of adult education.
2. Agreeing on the educational technical advise bulletins on adult education's procedures.
3. Agreeing on the final estimations of the number of centers, employees, and learners.
4. Preliminary agreement on the organizational lists, their submission to the higher authorities, and the general supervision of the implementation of the examination lists.
5. Agreeing on the starting and ending dates of the school-year, as well as the date of exams, and special enrollment and admission conditions in adult education centers.
6. Agreeing on the creation of new centers and redistribution of the existing ones in the whole territory.
7. Agreeing on the centers' needs, such as manuals, stationary and other educational material.

The State adopted the following main administrative legislations:

1. Providing education for all as stipulated in the 1972 Constitution.
2. Promulgating the law on compulsory education n.1 of 1975.
3. Issuing a ministerial decree for the provision of the necessary school material, transport means, and a headquarter for adult education centers.

According to the organizational framework of the Ministry, the Minister (of Education and Youth) is mainly and directly responsible for decision-making and for giving the proper directives to develop the educational process for better living. He issues the decisions and the directives related to the education and learning processes.

1. Creating a new development and training center, which will serve as a permanent educational laboratory for the preparation and training of the teaching and administrative personnel in kindergartens.
2. Preparing and adopting a modernized curriculum for kindergartens, taking into consideration the characteristics of the children's growth in this stage and guaranteeing their continuous acquisition of the competencies required at this age.
3. Preparing and providing the adequate educational material.
4. Training national personnel to acquire the needed qualifications in kindergartens.
5. Creating model classes in the development center, specially equipped to test the educational novelties in this cycle before generalizing them, and to benefit from the training programmes.
6. Supporting the department of kindergartens (the administration of kindergartens and primary schools) and the division of kindergartens (the administration of curricula) to introduce the required educational innovations in kindergartens.

Second – Main activities and achievements in basic education:

Developing courses in accordance with the State's educational philosophy, in the fields of human sciences, cultural education, computing, extracurricular activities, and upgrading of English language skills, by developing the curricula starting the primary cycle. The Ministry aims also at adding new courses to the general curriculum:

7. Technology (technical education)
8. Health education
9. Environmental education
10. Safety education

The future curricula will register a quantum leap in the field of education as they will focus on skills and values rather than on abstract conventional education.

Given the growing expansion of private schools, the department of private education became an administration in 1978. The administration executed the vested tasks by supervising the education, control and advise processes. Private schools participated also in all the school activities organized in their educational zone, such as educational fairs, general celebrations, and diverse other activities organized by the Ministry.

The following activities were undertaken:

1. Updating and developing all the courses in the curricula.
2. Adopting the two-semester system.
3. Focusing on the proper progression of the transfer and general certificates exams.
4. Providing continuous training for male and female teachers, administration personnel and educational instructors.

The main activities in the field of adult education were as follows:

1. Undertaking a series of bureaucratic and on-the-field studies to evaluate the scope, characteristics, and causes of the illiteracy problem in the UAE, and to determine the extent to which the efforts made by the adult literacy and education administration succeeded in eradicating this problem.
2. Examining the problems and issues hindering the effectiveness of the national literacy campaign; such efforts include programme evaluation, scope of participation, follow up, drop-out and failure problems, lack of incentives for the learners, as well as financing problems and training of teaching and administrative personnel in charge of the campaign.
3. Elaborating Accelerated Literacy Programmes, based on intensive curricula yielding immediate functional results. They should provide the required competencies for vocational rehabilitation and basic training, in order to link education to productive work.
4. Elaborating an executive programme in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, in addition to other ministries and economic institutions. It will aim at finding new work opportunities for the graduates from adult literacy and education centers and helping them improve their learning and their training.
5. Elaborating literacy programmes for remote areas, nomads and women., using modern informal education techniques.
6. Elaborating a comprehensive programme including material and social incentives to stimulate illiterate people to learn, increase their participation in literacy campaigns and programmes, and complete their learning, and providing continuous education for the whole society.

1. Seminar to increase girls and women participation in literacy and adult education programmes, held in Syria on April, 12-15, 1993.
2. Workshop in Tunisia on the development of educational material for rural women, held in 9-21/6/1993.

1. Main domestic sessions:

The administration of adult education holds annual sessions for the administrative personnel, including the centers' presidents and vice-presidents, as well as the administrative supervisors, in coordination with the administration of educational training and rehabilitation. They were mainly:

1. Three sessions on school administration for all educational regions in Al-Charika.
2. Training session on adult literacy and education.
3. Training session for literacy teachers.
4. Workshop for male and female literacy teachers.
5. Training session on school administration.

The educational media played a major role in generalizing education for better living. The main means and activities used for this purpose were:

1. Publishing a periodical (educational magazine)
2. Preparing radiobroadcast programmes in coordination with radio stations in the Emirates.
3. Preparing televised programmes in coordination with television stations in the Emirates.
4. Issuing informational booklets on the tools and equipment used in the various education institutions.
5. Issuing an annual book summarizing the Ministry's achievements in all fields.
6. Asking the local media to focus on the development of education and launching information campaigns to reinforce and coordinate decision-making on important issues.

The departments of educational media in the various educational zones in the Emirates have also played a substantial role, by issuing educational bulletins and periodicals.

The World Declaration of Education for All encompassed all aspects of basic education and its various functions.

The future perspective for modern education matches perfectly the policy adopted by the present Ministry of Education and Youth, and corresponds both to this Declaration. Therefore, it is normal to see the Ministry exploit the educational strategies, activities and events organized by the global education institutions.

The Conference on free compulsory education in the Arab States held in 1994 in Cairo, is an indicator of the maturity of Arab States in the field of education.

The UAE followed suit and succeeded in making education "general, unified, compulsory and free in all cycles all over the territory", by virtue of article 17 of the Constitution.

Many delegations continue to attend world conferences organized by the UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDBAS, the UNESCO's regional offices, and the ALECSO; in addition to Arab or other conferences. The UAE are trying to take full advantage of the proposals and theories unveiled during such events.

The national committee for education, culture and sciences in the Ministry aims at playing an efficient and active role in this regards, to facilitate communication, open new world perspectives benefiting from on-the-field experiences and outdoor studies, and undertake comparative studies enabling the administration to start where others ended.

The administration of kindergartens and primary schools supervises, through the department of educational affairs in the Ministry of Education and Youth, the provision of basic educational services in public schools in all the educational zones. They are financed by the budget earmarked for the Ministry from the general federal budget of the UAE.

Also, other administrations in the Ministry and regional and international organizations joined efforts to reach the educational goals in this basic cycle. They are as follows:

1. Local governments.
2. Regional and international organizations.
3. Charity associations.
4. Private sector businessmen.

The administration of private education cooperates with all international institutions and organizations, in coordination with the different bodies in the Ministry. The result was:

1. A visit made by a Kuwaiti delegation headed by the assistant representative of the Ministry of Private Education in Kuwait.
2. A visit made by an Omani delegation working in the private education sector.
3. A visit made by an American task force of three members. Their 14-day visit covered private schools to assess the work realized so far and prepare a report submitted to the competent authorities. The administration is currently implementing the report's recommendations, in coordination with the United Arab Emirates University.
4. A visit made by two delegations from the administration of private education, one to France, the other to Kuwait.

It was an occasion to exchange opinions and advise and to assess the achievements of private education institutions in these countries.

The Ministry cooperates constantly with international organizations, in order to develop its work and participate in the global human and scientific assessment.

The main targets reached so far in this field are:

1. Calling for administrative and technical experts from international organizations, such as the UNESCO and the World Bank; in particular, experts in school curricula, school exams, and educational planing.
2. The Ministry is particularly interested in participating in the sessions and meetings held by international, Arab and Islamic organizations.
3. There is a clear cooperation between the Ministry and the local authorities, such as the UAE University and the Institute for Administrative Development.
4. The Ministry chose to enter into contracts with renown and eminent consultants who made a valuable contribution to the field of education.

A supervisory and follow up committee was created headed by the Minister of Education and Youth, and the membership of the ministries of Defense, Interior, Finance, Labor and Social Affairs, and women associations, in order to coordinate adult literacy efforts. The following subcommittees were derived from this main committee: planing and statistics committee, curricula committee, rehabilitation and training committee, media committee, and finance committee. Each subcommittee elaborated the adequate plan according to its competencies.

Note that the Ministry of Education and Youth, women associations, and social development centers affiliated to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs are the sole providers of adult literacy services in the Emirates. Also, charity associations, the Majed cultural association's center, teachers and lawmen associations, and other associations, clubs, and charitable associations contributed, in one way or the other, to adult education.

Based on the literacy plan prepared by the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Ministry cooperated with several domestic bodies, to implement diverse plans, programmes, and projects, mainly:

1. Project for the education of workers in the petroleum sector.
2. Project for the Ministry of Defense.
3. Project for the education of police staff members.

The Ministry cooperated with the following foreign bodies in the field of adult literacy:

4. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
5. The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)
6. The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)
7. The Arab Authority for the Eradication of Illiteracy.
8. The Arab education Bureau for the Gulf States.

Sixth – Cooperation in essential skills training:

The ministries organize essential skills training session in the field of adult literacy and education. The main training sessions being:

9. Participating in regional and international seminars and conferences.
10. Holding training sessions in coordination with regional and international organizations.
11. Providing training through the Arab Authority for the Eradication of Illiteracy, by organizing seminars, conferences and meetings and the exchange of expertise in this field.
12. Formulating a proposal to introduce new vocational and scientific courses in the adult education curricula.

A new strategy for cooperation with international organizations and local bodies was elaborated. It consists of concluding educational and cultural agreements, holding exhibitions and conferences, participating in meetings and seminars related to educational and cultural issues, exchanging information and knowledge between the Ministry and the local and foreign educational and cultural institutions.

Public kindergartens of the Ministry of Education and Youth in the United Arab Emirates are either independent kindergartens, or part of common cycles schools. The present policy of the Ministry is oriented towards the creation of independent buildings for kindergartens, not related to the other cycles of education, given the specificity of this cycle, in terms of the building's architecture as well as the implementation procedure of the curriculum.

(The building of Man is a national need for the coming stage, far more important than the building of factories and plants. Because our people won't enjoy prosperity or welfare as long as we don't create a virtuous Man). This statement by the His Highness the Head of State, clearly demonstrates that Man is the greatest investment this country can ever make.

Therefore, all the money invested in the education of future generations will be ultimately beneficial. Aware of this fact, the educational institution and the authorities concerned in the government earmarked a special budget for the Ministry of Education and Youth, which increases every year. However, no precise budget was earmarked for basic education, which remains funded by the general budget of the Ministry.

Contrary to private schools, the administration of private education has no independent budget as it is part of the Ministry's administrations. It has continuously developed its services according to the increases in enrollment fees.

The Ministry interferes in the increase of these fees to preserve the balance between the services and facilities offered to the pupils and the school employees, and the parents' capacity to pay the fees.

Substantial and obvious changes were introduced in the expenditure procedures in the previous years, following the increase in the annual budget of the Ministry of Education and Youth. Needless to say that the Ministry is fully supported by all the State's bodies and the local governments, thanks to the rational policy adopted by His Highness the Head of State.

The government earmarked a substantial part of its budget for the adult literacy and education programme. It covers the creation of new centers, the publishing of manuals, and the payment of salaries and rewards for teachers, administrative staff and employees. The increase in the education's budget responds to the increase in the number of centers, teachers, administrative staff, and employees.

Note that the expenditure on adult education fall under the broader issue of expenditure on public education. However, a special budget is earmarked for the monthly rewards to the educational and administrative personnel. The following table represents the expenditure on adult education:

The Ministry of Education and Youth organizes, through the administration of adult literacy and education, and in cooperation with the administration of technical training and educational rehabilitation, training and rehabilitation sessions and diversified workshops all year-long for the teachers and the administrative and technical staff in adult literacy and education centers.

The Ministry of Education and Youth covers up to 40% of the preparation and production cost of the programmes broadcast in the various media; the remaining 60% being covered by the media themselves. The Ministry earmarked a special budget to cover these expenditures.