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Unprepared teachers in UAE refrain from registering for license

Sharjah - Some teachers fear it would be an embarrassment in front of the students and colleagues if they can't pass the examination.

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Many teachers of various private schools in Sharjah refrained from registering for the teacher's licence, as they are not prepared for the exam to be held on September 29. Registration for the exam concludes today.
Some teachers at Al Mariffa Private School in Sharjah said that they face difficulties registering for the exam because the code sent to their administration to access the website for registration was not working.
Maha Al Rifae, an Arabic teacher of non-Arabic speaking students of another private school in Sharjah, said it is not practical for her to appear in this exam as she didn't get time to prepare. "It's difficult to take time out of the regular work. My work pressure has been added when the book "I love My Arabic' was cancelled by the Ministry of Education. Now I need to search and find study materials from the Internet to teach the students."
Rughaya Al Amin from American School in Ajman said that her school is new and it is working on setting up classes. "We spend all the day at the school to conduct interview for new teachers, meet parents of new students and distribute books and uniforms. Proper tuition classes have not yet been started," she said.
Samiya Abdulrahman, science teacher at a private school in Sharjah, said the school had notified them to register for the exam. "But many teachers didn't register because needed enough time to prepare. Some others think that they are in the profession for more the 15 years and they don't have to appear for the exam. They should be given licences based on the years of experience in the field. The exams should be made mandatory for those who are new in the field," she added.

Fear for failure

Some teachers fear it would be an embarrassment in front of the students and colleagues if they can't pass the examination. So they want to appear for the exam well-prepared.
Amal, Hurriya Khan and Anita S., teachers of main subjects at a private school, said that they didn't register because they are not ready this time. "Many teachers don't want to give the exams without proper preparation. They are afraid of the shame that would give if they are unable to pass the exam. They don't want to be seen embarrassed, especially in front of their students and colleagues, who may know about their failure."
An official at the Ministry of Education (MoE) said that the exam to be held on September 29 is for all teachers and those who failed in the first attempt.
Training courses will be provided for those who fail under the teacher's licence system (TLS), which will allow them to repeat the exam in a period of 24 months. With the beginning of this academic year, the ministry has taken initiative to expand the registration to ensure the quality of education. Circulars have been sent to all schools in the country to inform their teaching staff to register for the exam.
Mustafa Al Musa, principal of Al Mariffa School, said that the moment they received the circulars, they held a meeting with all teachers and notified them about the exam. "We instructed them to register for the exam to obtain the licence as soon as possible. This will ensure the quality of education and help gain the trust of parents."

The teachers' licence system

>The system launched in March this year made it mandatory for every highschool teacher to obtain a licence after passing a test
>With the beginning of the new academic year, the system was expanded to teachers of all the grades and curriculums
>Last date for registration for this year's licensing test is September 20 and the test will be held on September on 29
>Those who fail in the exam will have to undergo a training and need to reappear
>It will be compulsory for all the teachers in the UAE to have a licence by 2020, according to the Ministry of Education
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com