Job Discussion Forums

[Iamherebecause]

This article is from the Gulf News 3 October 2010:
Majority not prepared for university
More foundation programmes on offer across the UAE indicate that a large number of school-leavers are unprepared for tertiary education.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/majority-not-prepared-for-university-1.690616

But what the Provost at UAEU is doing flies in the face of the facts as explained in the above article. He seems to want to close down the Foundation Programme (UGRU) as he'd rather have a PhD programme ... don't DARE mention that most of the candidates are not local; or that the promised funding from Gov't coffers has yet to come through.

What's happening at ZU, University of Sharjah etc? Are they also suggesting the premature dismantling of foundation programmes?

[veiledsentiments]

You could change the date of that article to 1990 and nothing has changed... 90% of the local students who enter tertiary education need a Foundations program. The problem is as it always has been... a K-12 school system that passes students no matter what... and is naturally taught in the language of the students... Arabic. The problem is and always has been the change of language to English at university level. The 10% who manage direct entry come from the minority of students whose families send them to private International Schools where they are taught in English from the early grades. (these number will only change if the current program being adopted in the schools succeeds... and that will be 10 years or so in the future to see the results)

The UAEU is the only institution in the country that provides housing for its Foundations students... many of whom take years to get through... or take years trying and never get through. This is hugely expensive. They have merely outsourced the Foundations programs so that these students prepare in their own cities and thus arrive at UAEU theoretically ready to start their degree programs.

Obviously neither ZU nor any other institution is planning to do away with their programs. I suspect that there will be private institutions opening purely for foundations preparation.

VS
(PS... speaking of ZU... when they began, their intention was to have no foundations program because their methodology was going to be so superior - computers were going to be the answer. We teachers at HCT laughed up our sleeves... and sure enough, they had to add one after 2 years of failure.)

[Sheikh N Bake]

Ah, but VS, now they probably have Smart Boards like we do here on the base where I work in KSA. The new answer to superior education, they're so complicated and unwieldy that only software engineers and salespeople can use half of their features. (We use them just as screens for the computer projector.)

OK, now I know everybody will come on and tell me I'm stupid because YOU use them with great ease and effect. Phooey.

[helenl]

Yay, SNB is as SmartBoard challenged as I am! I especially like those instructors who use whiteboard markers on the SmartBoard screen

[mimi_intheworld]

LOL, I do love having a smart board in my classroom, I admit it. However, unless you have several student-free hours in which to figure it out, a smart board is kind of frustrating.

That said - are they the magic pill to solve all educational woes? Ooh, I hope so!!!

.....Or perhaps we'll just have to carry on teaching.

SNB, on the Teach Away forum on facebook (where I spend most of my time these days) one teacher was concerned because all he has in his classroom is a white board. You should give him some tips!

[scot47]

Blackboard and chalk is good enough for me thanks !

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[uaeobserver]

Things haven't changed. I recall reading the same thing back in 2005.

To give you an idea how people think in that region of the world, I've outlined the problem/solution (at least how they'd frame it):


Problem: Students are not adequately prepared for university study
Solution: Conferences and fireworks, MoUs, and new doctoral programs.

Patently brilliant.

[Gus Barkley]

Any word on how happy/unhappy the future UAEU students are being stuck in their villas in Fujairah? I wonder how many will keep UAEU as their first choice after going to HCT for a year.

[Sheikh N Bake]

[Iamherebecause]

[veiledsentiments]

[scrog_420]

[Sheikh N Bake]

Indeed. There was a simpler, more user-friendly earlier version, but like the evil nerds at Microsoft the designers decided they had to make it as inaccessible as possible, like an e-board equivalent of Vista--only worse.