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Madares Al Ghad

Madares Al Ghad (MAG) (Arabic: مدارس الغد) is an educational curriculum enlisted by public schools in 2007 and was discontinued in 2015, firstly initiated by the Ministry of Education in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, looking to develop bilingual UAE nationals. Looking to achieve their goals through providing English medium textbooks for English, Science, and Mathematics in order to both improve students' level of English and change the way in which these subjects are taught and understood. The program was enlisted within 50 public schools throughout the United Arab Emirates, with the curriculum first developed for three subjects in grades 1, 2, and 3 and only in the English subject for high school, while in 2010 it was extended to reach grade 4 as well as involving subjects like Mathematics and Science to be taught in the English language as well in high school. The program set out a goal of eliminating the need of English remedial programs, which are taken by 95% percent of UAE national pupils due to students scoring less than 180 in the Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA), being a test designed to prove if a pupil is capable of being taught in English at a higher education level. The program seeked to as Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education puts it to "produce graduates who are proficient in both Arabic and English, knowledgeable about and committed to their rich heritage and culture, skilled in the use of information and communication technology, well-educated in Mathematics and Science and prepared for direct entry into higher education institutions world-wide." The changes to the system included providing the teachers with laptops, Wi-fi internet connection and more computers for students, while also the the setting up of more libraries with English books and students provided text books to that of papers they had to use previously.

Early Stages 2007 - 2012

The referendum to introduce the Madares Al Ghad (MAG) curriculum was based on multiple reasonings, first being the number of Emirati Dubai based families opting to attend private school at nearly fifty-five percent of the population. The train of thought for this statistic being that the ideal of children getting a better education in private schools due to slow improvements within public schools. Secondly, the implication of MAG corresponded with the Ministry of Higher Education's plans to eliminate foundation year in colleges and universities through the pushing of early English language studies. It was initiated in the academic year 2007/2008 through selected public schools, with its standards adopted from Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge which are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In the early stages of the implication of Madares Al Ghad (MAG), the program received positive reviews as studies showed that MAG students consistently scored between four to six percent higher than students in non-MAG schools. It was believed that MAG is improving the educational programs and curriculum in both Arabic and English. In response to the positive reviews in 2010, Shaikha Al Shamsi, Chief Executive for Educational Affairs, announced the next step in regards of the implementation of MAG being the extension of the curriculum to grade 4 where Mathematics and Science will be taught in English as well. In 2012, the MAG project was reviewed by the University of Georgia to assess its strengths and weaknesses, with the Ministry of Education not willing to reveal the full report, but said the analysis showed how the programme should move forward.

Final Stages 2013-2015

With the progression in development of Madares Al Ghad (MAG) curriculum, complaints and issues started to come into light causing the referendum to come to an end in 2015. Challenges arose in different regards, firstly relating to the lack of corresponding reforms in assessment mechanisms meaning that teachers often return to the old teacher-centered, textbook-driven ways of teaching. Secondly, being parents and members of the Federal National Council fear over a decline in children's command of Arabic. Many Emirati nationals also felt resentful over a foreign language and a foreign curriculum being imposed upon Emirati children. Challenges also arose relating to the recruiting of qualified bilingual teachers. All the reasoning causing the Ministry of Education to withdraw all its MAG representatives consisting of two or three representatives per school, transferring their respective contracts to support the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge. Ultimately causing the Madares Al Ghad program to be discontinued with schools returning to the Ministry of Education curriculum. Further backlash came to light as well to the discontinuation of MAG as parents complained through "Al Ittihad" newspapers to their lack of knowledge of the change in curriculum with some being shocked to how their kids went to school to start learning certain subjects in Arabic again rather than English.