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Abu Dhabi Education Council  

Thursday 18 March 2010 (UAE)   
 
   
      
 

Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC)

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) is the educational authority for the emirate of Abu Dhabi which includes the city of Al Ain, and towns in the Western Region (or Al Gharbiya). From January 2008, ADEC became the supervising body of the Abu Dhabi Educational Zone (ADEZ), taking over the role from the UAE Ministry of Education.

  • ADEC was established in 2005
  • ADEC monitors courses and programs in Abu Dhabi schools and other educational institutes, offers support and assistance to schools and universities, and implements policies and procedures intended to improve the standard of education in Abu Dhabi.
  • Director General of ADEC was Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili (last checked June 2009).
  • The three educational zones in Abu Dhabi are Abu Dhabi Educational Zone (ADEZ), Al Ain Educational Zone (AAEZ) (Director is Salem Al Kathiri), and the Western Region Educational Zone (WEZ).
  • According to Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, the ADEC Director General, the difference between ADEC and ADEZ is that "ADEC plans and takes decisions, while the Abu Dhabi Education Zone is in charge of the implementation process. However, at the end, we both work together as one team" (reported in Gulf News 28 September 2008).
ADEC Abu Dhabi school inspections
  • Abu Dhabi schools will be inspected by ADEC in the 2009-2010 academic year, with a preliminary inspection during the 2008-2009 academic year. Similar to the Dubai school inspections conducted by the KHDA.
  • Originally in 2009 statements, ADEC said they would make the results publicly available. That would mean parents, students, and teachers would have an opportunity to review schools which they planned to attend. In 2010, ADEC did an about-face and announced the results would be kept secret between the school and ADEC, resulting in parents, students, and teachers wondering what the point of the inspections was, if they weren't allowed to know how good or bad the schools were.
ADEC Abu Dhabi school accreditation
  • ADEC announced they had signed a 5 year renewable agreement with Advance Education, Inc. (AdvancED), US based school accreditation body (press release and WAM report 03 March 2010). Headline was "ADEC signs MoU with AdvancED seeking International accreditation of its public and private schools"
  • According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), ADEC and AdvancED would collaborate in "providing technical assistance in establishing functioning operational systems to include school system governance, leadership structures, training and certification programs, policies & processes for personnel procurement, placement & evaluation and program evaluation", in other words, make schools better, as they themselves said further on - "create quality educational systems that best serve Abu Dhabi students."
  • ADEC will provide AdvanceED with the physical location and resources to operate in Abu Dhabi, and AdvanceED will operate the office and accreditation system for Abu Dhabi schools, and employ a UAE Director of Accreditation. for the UAE office along with staff and administrative personnel.
  • AdvacED might also provide ASSIST (Adaptive System of School Improvement Tools) for Abu Dhabi schools.
  • Abu Dhabi schools would have to be accredited within 8 years (by 2018) according to a report in The National Abu Dhabi 04 March 2010 - "All schools in Abu Dhabi will have to be accredited by a US body within eight years, the emirate's education regulator said yesterday." - apparently referring to the ADEC press release, although there was no obvious mention of an 8 year time limit in the press release.
Equivalent class/grades in English-medium private school systems for pupil placement
Academic Year 2009-2010 (ADEC information)
Age Date of Birth DOB England Scotland¹ USA Australia² India South Africa² Singapore²
  From To              
3-4 01 Sep 2005 31 Aug 2006 F1 Nursery Pre-school Pre-school KG 1 Pre-school Nursery
4-5 01 Sep 2004 31 Aug 2005 F2 Nursery Pre-school Pre-school KG 2 Pre-school KG1
5-6 01 Sep 2003 31 Aug 2004 Year 1 Primary 1 KG KG Standard 1 Grade 0 KG2
6-7 01 Sep 2002 31 Aug 2003 Year 2 Primary 2 Grade 1 Grade 1 Standard 2 Grade 1 Primary 1
7-8 01 Sep 2001 31 Aug 2002 Year 3 Primary 3 Grade 2 Grade 2 Standard 3 Grade 2 Primary 2
8-9 01 Sep 2000 31 Aug 2001 Year 4 Primary 4 Grade 3 Grade 3 Standard 4 Grade 3 Primary 3
9-10 01 Sep 1999 31 Aug 2000 Year 5 Primary 5 Grade 4 Grade 4 Standard 5 Grade 4 Primary 4
10-11 01 Sep 1998 31 Aug 1999 Year 6 Primary 6 Grade 5 Grade 5 Standard 6 Grade 5 Primary 5
11-12 01 Sep 1997 31 Aug 1998 Year 7 Primary 7 Grade 6 Grade 6 Standard 7 Grade 6 Primary 6
12-13 01 Sep 1996 31 Aug 1997 Year 8 Senior 1 Grade 7 Grade 7 Standard 8 Grade 7 Secondary 1
13-14 01 Sep 1995 31 Aug 1996 Year 9 Senior 2 Grade 8 Grade 8 Standard 9 Grade 8 Secondary 2
14-15 01 Sep 1994 31 Aug 1995 Year 10 Senior 3 Grade 9 Grade 9 Standard 10 Grade 9 Secondary 3
15-16 01 Sep 1993 31 Aug 1994 Year 11 Senior 4 Grade 10 Grade 10 Higher 1 Grade 10 Secondary 4
16-17 01 Sep 1992 31 Aug 1993 Year 12 Senior 5 Grade 11 Grade 11 Higher 2 Grade 11 High School 1
17-18 01 Sep 1991 31 Aug 1992 Year 13 Senior 6 Grade 12 Grade 12   Grade 12 High School 2
  1. Mid-year cut-off date is end of February, not August
  2. School year runs from January to November. Australia only according to ADEC information but presumably applies to NZ and South Africa also as they are also in the Southern Hemisphere. Also Singapore even though it is in the Northern Hemisphere (only just)?

According to ADEC: "Placement into the age-appropriate equivalency is conditional on successful completion of the academic year, authenticated by a school transfer certificate or official letter. Any requests to place children outside the age framework on this chart must be formally approved by ADEC and be accompanied by a formal assessment, by the school, in English and Maths (for all pupils) and Arabic and Islamic Studies (for native speakers only), demonstrating age and stage equivalency."

There is an appeals procedure if a parent or guardian does not agree with the level that their child has been placed in.

  1. Appeal to the school directly using the school's internal complaints procedure. If the outcome is not satisfactory, then
  2. Lodge an appeal with the ADEC Licensing and Accreditation Division Manager. The ADEC Assessment Committee will review the appeal and notify the applicant within 21 days. Documents to be submitted include:
    • A one-page summary of the reasons for the appeal
    • The outcome of the initial application to the school
    • Evidence in support of the reasons for the appeal
ADEC 10 year strategic plan (2009-2018)

On 29 June 2009, ADEC announced a 10 year strategic plan from 2009 to 2018 to improve the education system in the Abu Dhabi emirate, targeted at government schools and private schools running a UAE curriculum. Key points are (based on ADEC press release 29 June 2009)

  • Long term strategy is to migrate Abu Dhabi government schools to a new school model with a new curriculum and assessment scheme, addressing teacher qualifications, curriculum learning outcomes, classroom and school facilities. Migration will be phased beginning with kindergartens, up to grade 12 by 2015-16.
  • Short term strategy to focus on cycle 3 (grades 10-12) students to improve their ability to meet university and college entry criteria.
  • Improve quality of schools in Abu Dhabi so that students meet international standards.
  • Improve student proficiency in Arabic language, and knowledge of UAE culture and history.
  • Changing the focus of the current education system to depend more on problem solving and analytical skills than memorization.
  • Increasing teaching time for cycle 3 students from the current 4-5 hours (possibly up to 8 hours).
  • Replace old and inadequate villa schools with more modern facilities.
  • Promote teaching careers for UAE nationals.
  • All school age students of any nationality should have access to a quality education.
  • Supporting special needs children with an individualized education.
  • Providing affordable high quality private education equivalent to international standards.
  • Improving career guidance options and supporting Abu Dhabi government Emiratization initiatives.
  • ADEC educational targets will be evaluated by independent monitoring agencies, with results made available to the public.
ADEC contact details
  • Abu Dhabi Educational Council
  • PO Box 36005
  • ADEC location is off Airport Rd (2nd St), west side, between Delma St (13th St) and Mohammed Bin Khalifa St (15th St)
  • Tel +971-2-6150000, fax +971-2-6150555 (or +971-2-6150595? Seen on AUH government website but might be incorrect), email info@adec.ac.ae
Last update Friday 05-Mar-2010
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