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19 March 2024

Does learning Arabic help get a good job?

Published
By Sneha May Francis

Dubai school heads collaborate to make Arabic education in private schools more inclusive, innovative and inspiring for their students. It's a step, they believe, will go a long way in helping children respect the culture of the land they live in, and also help secure good jobs.

The language, the panelists felt, was in dire need of modification in school syllabuses.

During the hour-long discussion, the criticisms hinted at how students ended up scoring 100% for Arabic in exams, but were unable to strike up a conversation in the language.

Some schools like the Indian High School has succeeded in cracking the "good model" that encourages students to absorb the language meaningfully. “I can’t say that all my students who graduate can converse fluently in Arabic, but most of them can,” said Ashok Kumar, CEO of the school.

He highlighted their unique initiatives, like “speaking in Arabic to get discounts in school canteen” and fetching points for “speaking in Arabic in the basketball court”. There's also, the Arabic school assembly that is held one day of the week.

“The students may not score 100% in their exams, but they can communicate well.”

Kumar added that they had moved away from merely memorizing the textbooks, and have used it as a tool to further the education process.

“It’s no more about learning, but getting connected with the culture of the city we live in,” added Darryl Bloud, brand director education, GEMS.

Apart from helping students respect the local culture, Arabic also goes a long way in fetching them high-paying jobs.

“It’s shameful that in the 12 years of studying in Dubai I don’t speak the language. I can read and write because I had to mug it in school. I even scored 100%. Even in the job market that really makes a difference. If I could speak in Arabic, I could’ve probably got a job that would fetch me double of what I would earn,” highlighted Nisha, a working professional in Dubai.

Apart from fetching you a more prominent position in the job market, Christopher McDermott, principal at GEMS International school, felt that “learning Arabic” was a display of respect to the place you are living in, and an appreciation of the culture we have embraced.

Talking to Emirates24|7, he hinted at the lack of practice and the need to converse in the language is probably the biggest challenge. “It’s my fourth year living in Dubai, and much as I would want to learn Arabic and be fluent in the language, there’s no need for me to do that in the way the society functions. I could walk into a store and converse in English, and be understood.”

At Knowledge and Human Development Authroity (KHDA)’s first session of What Works for the new academic year, the educators chose Arabic education as one of five key areas that needs a makeover. The other four are “creativity”, “more students”, “science” and “maths”.

‘What Works’, now in its third year, hopes to bring together school teachers and educators to brainstorm on effective ways of teaching.

Hind Al Mualla, Chief of Engagement at KHDA, added that the practice is aimed at generating role models by sharing in ideas and resources. She hinted that the sharing of information and models is not aimed only at the ‘outstanding’ schools, and that even the ‘good’ and ‘acceptable’ schools offer effective tools for change.

Educator Sonia Ben Jaafar agreed that such collaborations between schools of varied gradings have gone in a long way in establishing great teaching models for students in the UAE.

In fact, Ashok Kumar credited Zabeel public school for helping them tweak their Arabic teaching methods. “They needed help in IT, and we needed help in Arabic. So, there was a trade-in of sorts and both schools benefitted.”