UAE: Why some parents opt to homeschool their children

A community in the UAE runs a mentorship program for parents who are exploring the option for homeschooling and support them with resources

Nasreen Abdulla

Published: Fri 3 Jan 2025, 6:00 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Jan 2025, 4:33 PM

For Sharjah resident Tara, it was her daughter’s first report card that prompter her to switch to homeschooling. Today, she homeschools all three of her children, who are 11, 8 and 3 years old.

“When my daughter attended kindergarten in school, I got a report card which was the complete opposite of what her real personality was,” she recalled. “In that instant, I knew that she was not getting the attention that she requires at school.”

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A teacher herself, Tara went through six months of rigorous training before quitting her job to focus on her children. “I know how the system works,” she said. “With 20 to 30 children in their classes, no teacher has the time to focus on each child.”

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She said she designed the curriculum and tailored her approach to suit her children. “My son was a kinesthetic learner,” she said. “Basically, he was someone who needed to be actively engaged in his learning. When learning the Math tables, he used the floor and wall. These were only possible because he was being homeschooled.”

Increasing popularity

Homeschooling has been increasing in popularity all over the world, according to Khalfan Belhoul the CEO of Dubai Future Foundation.

In November 2024, during the opening of the Dubai Future Forum, he said: “Before Covid, nearly three million children were homeschooled globally. In 2022, the US had 3.4 million homeschooled students, and in the UK, numbers rose by 34 per cent to around 100,000. The real total is probably even higher. By next year, outside school learning will reach five million students. This shift reflects a growing understanding that education is not one-size-fits-all. The rise of online platforms, virtual classrooms and customised curriculums means that families now have more control over how, when and what their children learn.”

This popularity has also been reflected in the growing number of homeschoolers and their increasing support network. Aminah Cooper is the founder of Duneha network which offers homeschooling support to parents in Dubai.

An American expat, Aminah is a mother of five, all of whom were homeschooled and are now adults. She explained what Duneha does, “We have group functions with the help and support of families,” she said. “There are annual events like science exhibitions, book clubs, weekly or biweekly field trips and a lot of other activities.”

British expat Gill, who established and runs the not-for-profit, voluntary Cave Homeschooling community, said that what started as park meet ups with a few other expat families 13 years ago has now grown into an established group with over 400 members.

The group recently began a Muslim Scouts Fellowship programme in the UAE to give the students more exposure. “It is a very inclusive program which is open to everyone,” she said. “Parents can volunteer and students can work towards earning different skill based badges. Recently, we held an activity where our Scouts and Cubs wrote letters to Palestinian refugee children receiving therapeutic trauma counselling in Egypt. Many of the letters were both touching and heartwarming.”

The community also conducts hiking trips and clean up drives to ensure that students are connected to nature. Last week, MSF organised their first hike at Mushrif Park.

Challenges

However, all parents unanimously agreed that there were many challenges on the homeschooling path. Gill shared how she was helping her 19-year-old son, who is now in university, through a PowerPoint presentation. “As a homeschooler, he never had to do a presentation,” she said. “No homeschooling parent has all the answers or skills figured out. We also learn as we go and that it why it is so important to have the support of a homeschooling community. Everyone learns from each other.”

Cave also runs a mentorship program for parents who are exploring the option for homeschooling and support them with resources.

For Tara, one of the biggest challenges is her children’s future education. “My daughter wants to get into culinary school,” she said. “We have already mapped out her path. She will write her GCSEs and then apply to a local culinary school."

"However, my son wants to be an automotive engineer. We are Indians but I have heard that in India, if he wants to get into an engineering school, we have to provide the transcripts of all years of schooling. This is not possible for homeschooled children. There are several local universities as well which will not accept without transcripts. So we are still exploring other options.”

Gill clarified that future education, especially in the time of AI, is one of the key challenges when it comes to homeschooling and that parents should be open to vocational options- something that is challenging to find in the UAE. “It depends on which pathway the parent and student want to follow,” she said.

“For those who follow the UK curriculum, they can sit IGCSE exams as independent students and get accepted into a British university. For those who opt for the American curriculum via an accredited provider, they can also apply to American or other international universities with their attested transcripts and High School Diploma," she added.

She also noted that there are also the UAE based Rahaal programme and the Ministry of Education’s Homeschool Programme available from Year 7. "However, we are not aware of any expat homeschoolers who have followed the latter routes and secured entry into local universities. We counsel each family and assist them with the pathway they want to follow," she said.

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