"Federal National" stresses the importance of issuing a law for technical education and vocational training

During its fourth session of the second regular session of the eighteenth legislative term, which was held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Council, today in Zayed Hall at the Council’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the Federal National Council adopted a number of recommendations during the discussion of the government’s policy on technical education and vocational training, and directed three questions to Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of Education. The recommendations stressed the need to issue a comprehensive federal law on technical education and vocational training, increase technical education and vocational training institutions, and take into account their geographical distribution in the various emirates of the country, while establishing a comprehensive system of grants, incentives and privileges, with the aim of encouraging students to enroll in this type of education. The recommendations adopted by the Council during the discussion of this topic in the presence of Her Excellency the Minister of Education, called for expediting the issuance of the executive regulations of Decree-Law (48) of 2021 regarding higher education to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the decree, and the executive regulations of Decree-Law (39) of 2022 regarding compulsory education to clarify the educational system for the stages of technical and vocational education "general" and its types and academic levels, and the necessary controls for registration and transition from one stage to another. The Council decided to return the recommendations to the Education, Culture, Youth, Sports and Media Affairs Committee of the Council, to reformulate them in accordance with the interventions of the honorable members, and resubmit them to the Council for approval and submission to the government. The session began with the approval of the minutes of the third session held on 12/4/2024 AD, and His Excellency Dr. Omar Abdul Rahman Al-Nuaimi, Secretary-General of the Council, recited the agenda items. Before discussing the government's policy on technical education and vocational training, the Council approved a summary of the report of the Education, Culture, Youth, Sports and Media Affairs Committee, to study it and submit a report on it. Among the recommendations adopted by the Council during the discussion of this topic: calling for the preparation of a strategy specifically for technical education and vocational training directly, with the strategy centered around several points, including: state governance and financing for the development of vocational and technical education and training, developing the quality of curricula for the vocational and technical education and training sector, reviewing frameworks and qualifications to ensure that they keep pace with modern and rapid technological developments, attracting educational cadres to work in the field of technical education and vocational training, providing financial incentives to encourage them to join the teaching profession, developing the skills of those working in the field of teaching the technical education and vocational training sector and training them continuously, and partnering with the private sector to ensure the training and employment of graduates of technical education and vocational training. The recommendations stressed the importance of the Ministry of Education, in coordination with the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, ensuring that academic curricula, programmes and professional certificates are compatible with the needs of the labour market, involving the private sector in determining the content of educational programmes and curricula, and strengthening partnership with it regarding providing training opportunities and determining the needs of the labour market in terms of professions, skills and specialisations, in line with the changing requirements of the labour market.