DUBAI // Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak makes it quite obvious - he does not like foundation courses.
For more than two years, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research has been speaking about the need to eliminate the English remedial programmes, which are taken by 95 per cent of Emirati pupils.
Pupils are enrolled in these courses if they do not score more than 180 points in the Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (Cepa), a test designed to prove a pupil is capable of being taught in English at university.
"It is time to bring together all educational institutions to collectively address the remediation issue that has plagued our educational system for decades," Sheikh Nahyan said in a speech at Dubai Men's College in 2010. "We must commit ourselves to making significant progress in eradicating the need for foundation programmes in our colleges and universities."
The answer may lie in his ministry's Madares Al Ghad (Mag) programme, education authorities say. Pupils enrolled in the nation's 18 Mag high schools appear to be doing better in university placement tests.
"Our analysis shows an encouraging performance of pupils in these tests and a better pass rate than pupils in non-Mag schools," said Ghassan Hijazi, the academic programme coordinator.
He said there had been a 4 per cent increase in the number of pupils who had direct entry to university last year. "It's a slow but steady progression for a programme that is only five years old," he said.
Mr Hijazi said that when the programme began, 40 per cent of the pupils could not even spell their name in both languages.
"It was very difficult to raise them to a point where they can now take Cepa tests," he said. "To some extent it is a reliable one to measure how far we have come."
The Mag project was recently reviewed by the University of Georgia to assess its strengths and weaknesses. Mr Hijazi was not willing to reveal the full report, but said the analysis showed how the programme should move forward.
"We have areas where we need to improve, like more training for the teachers," he said. "But the reviewers also encouraged us to continue with the programme because it has shown results."
aahmed@thenational.ae
UAE and Russia in numbers
UAE-Russia ties stretch back 48 years
Trade between the UAE and Russia reached Dh12.5 bn in 2018
More than 3,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE
Around 40,000 Russians live in the UAE
The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase to 12 percent to reach 1.6 million in 2023
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
Scoreline
Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')
Bournemouth 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
