By Sneha May Francis

Soon, all teachers in the UAE will require a licence to teach.



“We are looking forward to introducing the teachers’ licensing system in the UAE,” announced Marwan Al Sawaleh, Under Secretary, Ministry of Education.



This will include teaching faculty in both public and private schools, he added.



“The draft will be presented to the cabinet for a final approval towards the end of the year.”



Al Sawaleh explained that this doesn’t mean that the licensing of teachers will come into effect next academic year.



“It will be carried out in stages. We know the market and the population of the teachers. There will be a proper plan and training when we introduce the teacher license.”



The licensing, he informed, will play a crucial role in the quality of education.



“We are currently working on the evaluation criteria and the standards at the moment,” Al Sawaleh said, adding that they were giving the proposal the final touches.



He, however, did not detail who will be responsible for the licensing.



“It is still a proposal. The cabinet will decide.”



During his key address at the Global Education and Skills Forum 2014, on Sunday, Al Sawaleh highlighted how teachers play a crucial role in the education system.



He added that performance evaluation system for teachers is already in play in all government schools.



“It depends on training needs and ensuring the teacher's competencies are put into good use. There’s also a system to set goals and initiative for each teacher.”



Al Sawaleh believed that such guidelines were followed in private schools as well.



A similar plan was introduced by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) as well.



It’s a model that Adec believes that the private schools could emulate.

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