No wonder, a lot of students are paying keen attention to learning Arabic language along with other subjects like science, economics, commerce and mathematics in their schools.

Many firms in the professional market prefer to hire people who also have proficiency in Arabic language. For instance, check the appointments columns in newspapers. For most jobs they say, “Bilinguals will be preferred”.

Most Asian community schools prefer teachers from their own countries because they can understand the students better than teachers from Arabic speaking countries.

Several parents told this reporter that they arrange tuitions in Arabic language at home for their children but all these efforts prove futile as the students are not able to speak the language in the schools.

The basic reason for not speaking the language properly is the lack of proper environment for speaking.

Dr Khalid Khamees Al Abri, Head of the Education Department at Abu Dhabi Education Zone, maintained, “We pay utmost attention towards the learning of Arabic language by the students. But we have found some hurdles like the lack of proper environment and encouragement for practising the language.

“The language must be spoken on the streets, in the markets, in homes and other places. Practising in schools is not enough. The students also need help from the society to speak the language.

“We also feel some changes have to be brought about in the syllabi to make it easier for students to learn Arabic properly.”

What principals say

Most principals blamed the parents who are not giving proper attention to their child’s Arabic lessons at home.

But the parents asked how can they help out their children with Arabic when they themselves do not know the language. They would rather have the schools take the responsibility.

Chaudhri Muhammad Munir, principal of Pakistan School in the capital, said: “In fact, the students do not get a proper environment to express themselves. It is observed that most of the students mingle with children from their own countries and do not get exposure to Arabic speaking groups.

“We have local Arabic teachers but we prefer teachers who can understand three or four languages like Urdu, English, Arabic and some other regional language because they can make students understand well and explain the expressions in the language,” Munir said.

A student might learn Arabic fast if he/she has been studying the language from the beginning but it becomes harder for those who join the school at later stages, Munir said.

Bashiruddin, principal of Bangladesh Islamia School in Abu Dhabi, prefers teachers from Sudan. He finds them efficient in teaching the language. Children speak English in the class but do not speak Arabic. When they return home, their parents also do not spend time with them to help them improve the language skills.

V.K. Mathu, principal of Abu Dhabi Indian School (ADIS), blames the parents who do not follow up on how the children are learning Arabic. Some students are very good in the language and speak well.

“If they speak on the school premises and at home in Arabic, it would be easier to pick up the skills but the students fail to do so,” he said. “We have introduced audio and video capsules and screening of Arabic movies for the students to learn the language well.”

May Hamdi, a supervisor for Arabic language at ADIS, felt the syllabus should be revised as per the needs of the beginners.

Hamdi said, “Some students do not think that learning the language is necessary for them and do not pay attention to it. Interaction at home and with neighbours in Arabic is necessary for learning the language.”

What parents feel

Parents stress the importance of learning Arabic and wish their children to learn the language and interact with native speakers more.

They said one would feel the need when going to any government office to get some work done or to a police station to lodge a complaint where all paper work is done in Arabic.

Thomas P. Thomas, a resident of Abu Dhabi, feels knowledge of the language doubles the chances of selection for a job. “My son is in class 8. He joined the school eight months back after coming from India. I have arranged tuition in Arabic for him. Now, he is able to read and write a bit but he finds it difficult to speak,” said Thomas.

R. Anil Kumar, said, “My two children have been studying here for the past five years — one in class VIII and another in class V — but cannot speak Arabic. What I gather is that the responsibility lies with the teachers. They do not focus on the students very well. Otherwise, five years are quite sufficient for learning a language.”

The syllabus is good but the methodology of teaching the language needs to be restructured, he said.

Edatnadan Joshy’s daughter, Athira Joshy, studies in class 11 and has been learning Arabic for the past 10 years. She can read and write but cannot speak Arabic. Interestingly, she obtains good marks in the language paper.

“The language is taught like a capsule in the school. If students are provided with the proper environment and schools organise group discussions in Arabic, they can perform better,” said Joshy.