Instruction for Mathematics and Science in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades
Grade at Which Specialist Teachers for Mathematics and Science are Introduced
In all public schools in Grades 1 to 3, students have three teachers: one for Arabic language and Islamic education, one for mathematics and science, and one for English language. In Grades 10 to 12, students have specialist teachers for each science area: physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Laboratories
The Ministry makes every effort to provide all public schools with the facilities needed for the teaching and learning process. All schools are equipped with laboratories, learning resource rooms, and rooms equipped for scientific activities with a variety of materials that support the development of students’ creative skills.
The Ministry of Education provides instructional materials free of charge for all students in public schools. Every student in the fourth grade is provided with a book from the Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley mathematics textbooks series.
Most fourth and fifth grade mathematics teachers use presentation equipment and tools (e.g., cards and overhead projectors) and other instructional packages that contain manipulatives, such as models, shapes, fractional parts, geometrical shapes, currencies and coins, dice, and models of units of measurement, weights, and volumes. The science curriculum in UAE schools is based on the Harcourt science textbook series.
The following types of mathematics and science instructional materials are provided to students and teachers in public schools throughout the UAE:
- Student textbooks
- Student practice books
- Mathematics enrichment workbooks
- Problem solving guides
- Teacher guide books
- Teacher practice books with answers and assessment guides
- Mathematics enrichment workbooks (with answer keys)
- Problem solving guides (with answer keys)
- Learning packages
Use of Technology
Students in Grades 4 to 8 use calculators to verify solutions and to facilitate the process of solving mathematical problems. Students are not allowed to use calculators during end-of-year examinations in Grades 1 to 8. Students use computers in Grade 6 to complete projects in several subject areas. Mathematics and science teachers in public schools use computers in the classroom in Grades 4 to 8 for demonstration and enrichment purposes, to introduce facts and information to students, and to enable students to do virtual experiments. The publishers Harcourt and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley provide software licenses to enable teachers to access additional support materials on educational websites corresponding to their textbooks.