Google this: End of private tuitions in UAE...

No more private tuition for UAE students.

Etisalat has partnered with Google and the Ministry of Education to create a dedicated YouTube channel with lectures, tutorials and other educational videos.

The YouTube channel called Duroosi Tutorial will initially have 600 videos and will cover the curriculum approved by the UAE Ministry of Education.

Currently only Grade 11 and 12 are courses are being covered, but the programme will soon include Grade 9 and 10 as well.

“Right now we have one hundred hours of YouTube videos.

“It will be mostly in Arabic and based on the Ministry of Education curriculum. This is the first time we are initiating such a project in the Middle East. Now students can go back and log onto YouTube,” said Mohamad Mourad, Managing Director, Google, Mena.

“This is just the beginning. We will be taking this forward. This is a very good example of how the internet brings value to society and culture.

“Think about the possibilities. It becomes very interactive. Students can interact and put in their comments discuss on the uploaded videos and even upload their own videos,” he added.

The tutorial videos were launched by the UAE Minister of Education Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami and Etisalat UAE Chief Executive Officer Saleh Al Abdooli.

“Smart education is a key priority for the government and advanced infrastructure will play a critical role in the achievement of this mission.

“Such strategic partnerships and unique talent development tools are critical for establishing a knowledge-based, sustainable UAE in the near future,” Obaid Al Qatami said.

Etisalat confirmed that one of the factors that influenced them to launch this programme was the increasing burden of private tuitions.

“One of the problems we came up with is private tutors. We wanted to make it very affordable. There were several studies done where private tutors were charging Dh100 to Dh500 per hour and private tuitions were taking up five to ten per cent of the household income.

“We wanted to reduce this burden,” said Amal Al Koos, Director at Etisalat in the UAE.

According to her Etisalat chose the best teachers in every subject to make the presentations.

When asked if other syllabus could be incorporated in future she said.

“The only two authorities in terms of education are the Ministry of Education and the Abu Dhabi Education Council. In future if we are expanding we will incorporate ADEC as well,” she added.

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