Reducing educational paths to “general” and “advanced” to take into account “the type, not the quantum”

The Ministry of Education revealed the reducing the number of educational paths from four to two tracks only (the year and the applicant), and granted the ninth grade students the freedom to choose the most appropriate path for them, according to their desires and university interests, as part of new updates on the system of educational paths in the secondary stage in government and private schools applied to the Ministry’s curriculum, starting from the next academic year 2025-2026, to enhance the readiness of students for their university and vocational paths.

The Minister of Education, Sarah Al -Amiri, said that the updates came after an integrated study of the curricula, analyzing the results of students during the previous years, organizing extensive workshops in which the domain administrators, school principals, and nine leading national universities participated in to find out the reality of application, understand the extent of students’ awareness of the academic materials, and explore challenges and opportunities.

She added that the ministry focused on the alignment of scientific curricula, in line with the requirements of each path, with a focus on enhancing fundamental skills and investing knowledge.

This came during a media meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of the Undersecretary, Eng. Muhammad Al -Qasim, a number of ministry officials, and representatives of the national media.

Sarah Al -Amiri said that these updates aim to enhance the quality of educational outcomes, and to enable students to choose specializations according to their academic desires and capabilities.

The advanced path for students interested in studying areas such as medicine, engineering, pharmacy and advanced science is devoted to promoting scientific and specialized skills in physics, chemistry and biology subjects, while the general path targets students who want to study the specializations of humanities, business administration, arts and police sciences, and social specialties, and provides a various academic base that enables the student to move to various university specialties in These areas.

She indicated that the students moved to the ninth grade starting from the next academic year will be allowed to choose the materials according to their desires, and the ministry will provide guidelines and evidence directed to students and parents, in coordination with the academic counseling teams, to help them make the appropriate decision. She pointed out that among the criteria for enrolling in the advanced path, the student gets a percentage of not less than 80% in English language, mathematics and science.

She stressed that the ministry focuses at this stage on “the type, not the quantity”, and that the student is the focus of the educational process, and that it will be available to students in the 11 grades and 12 the opportunity to move between the paths, according to their needs and aspirations.

Al -Amiri emphasized that the updates took into account the retention of optional materials within the advanced path, along with a group of other subjects in the public track, with a difference in the depth of the academic content, in a way that meets the needs of each group of students.

She pointed out that the ministry intends to launch detailed workshops for students and parents in the coming period, in addition to providing teachers and academic guides with specialized evidence to facilitate the smooth and precise application of these updates. She added that the special education institutions approved by the ministry will also be included in the training and implementation of new evidence.

She pointed out that the ministry also reviewed the outputs of the second episode to be in harmony with the upcoming transformations, when students move to the secondary stage, confirming the existence of additional developments with the start of the new academic year.

The Ministry was keen that the updates of the educational paths include the alignment of the curricula, so that the foundations of scientific subjects for students of the public track are taught, in a manner that ensures the refinement of their skills and talents, while the focus will be on the subjects of advanced science in the advanced path, to qualify students to study scientific specializations at the university stage.

The Ministry confirmed that these updates will not affect the future academic plans for the current students in the 11th and 12 grades, and revealed that the 12 grade students within the public track can replace physics with one of the other subjects specified, within the guiding guide issued by the Ministry.

Sarah Al -Amiri:

• The application is from the next academic year, with a review of scientific subjects to twin the requirements of each path.