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Filipino Times
6 hours ago
- Filipino Times
UAE Schools Introduce Artificial Intelligence Curriculum for 2025–2026 Academic Year
For the first time, UAE schools will gradually introduce an artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum in the 2025–2026 academic year, with classes taught by more than 1,000 specialised teachers. According to the Ministry of Education, students in the first and second cycles will take one AI class every two weeks, while third-cycle students will attend a weekly class. The subject will be delivered as a standalone course within computing, focusing on responsible and ethical AI use, as well as building skills for the future. Teachers have been undergoing intensive training and will continue to receive professional development, supported by regular follow-ups and monitoring committees to ensure smooth implementation. The AI curriculum will cover areas such as fundamental AI concepts, algorithms, ethical awareness, real-world applications, AI-driven innovation, project design, policies, and community engagement. Teachers will also be given structured lesson plans, activities, and adaptable resources. Minister of Education Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri confirmed that preparations for the new school year include maintenance of facilities, bus readiness, distribution of textbooks and uniforms, and teacher training. Nearly one million students are expected to return to schools nationwide. The ministry also announced major reforms in assessments — abolishing centralised exams for the second term in favor of school-based testing, expanding project-based learning to second-cycle students, and rolling out a new national proficiency test in Arabic, English, and mathematics for Grades 4 to 11.
The National
a day ago
- The National
Apple defeats UK order that would give law enforcement access to encrypted user data
Apple has secured a victory in defeating a proposed mandate from the British government that would have required the company to provide backdoor access to user data uploaded to the cloud. The February order from the British government that mandated access to data, including encrypted data on cloud services, provoked fury from the US tech industry, which has accused the UK of Orwellian practices in policing online content. 'Over the past few months, I've been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside President Trump and Vice President Vance to ensure Americans' private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,' Tulsi Gabbard, US director of National Intelligence, announced on X on Tuesday. 'As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a 'back door' that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens.' Technology tycoon and entrepreneur Elon Musk responded to Ms Gabbard's post with an arm flex emoji. Mr Musk has been highly critical of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party over the backdoor data access policy. Apple has not yet responded to The National's requests for a comment on this story. According to The Washington Post, which first broke the story about the law colloquially known as the 'Snoopers' Charter', the proposed legislation would have made it a criminal offence for a company to reveal that the government had made a request to access data. The policy push is not unique to the UK, with police and security services around the world advocating for more access to encrypted communications in recent years, warning that encryption can benefit criminals. For Apple, the matter has proven to be particularly sensitive, given the company's significant marketing emphasis on user privacy. In 2016, the US-based consumer technology company challenged a federal magistrate's order to unlock an iPhone used in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. At the time, Apple chief executive Tim Cook argued that such a move would undermine encryption by creating a backdoor that could potentially be used on other future devices. 'The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers – including tens of millions of American citizens – from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals,' he said. 'We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack.' He added that the demand threatened the security of Apple's customers and had 'implications far beyond the legal case at hand'. During prosecution, the FBI announced that it had found its own way to access the iPhone data for the accused terror suspects. As far back as 2010, when Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was still at the helm of the company, Apple was considered to be significantly more stringent than other Silicon Valley companies when it came to protecting user privacy. 'A lot of people think we're old fashioned about this,' Mr Jobs said during the D8 conference that same year. 'We take privacy extremely seriously.' Some, however, have questioned whether Apple's commitment to privacy is more style than substance, and whether it is just an attempt to sell more devices and services. 'Privacy … that's iPhone,' the advertisement concludes.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Ministry of Education announces full readiness for academic year 2025-2026, removes centralised tests at end of second semester
19 Aug 2025 18:54 ABU DHABI (WAM) The Ministry of Education (MoE), in cooperation with the UAE Government Media Office, held a media briefing in the presence of Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of Education, to outline its key preparations and development plans for the academic year 2025–2026, in line with national briefing was also attended by Mohammed Al Qassim, Under-Secretary of MoE; Sulaiman Al Kaabi, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Professional Development Sector; and Amna Al Saleh, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for the Curriculum and Assessment Sector, along with representatives of local media Amiri confirmed that since January, the MoE has been developing proactive plans to ensure public schools' readiness for the academic year 2025–2026, covering all aspects from facilities to advanced curricula. She noted that this year will introduce qualitative updates to boost the competitiveness of national education, including fundamental changes to the assessment tests at the end of the second semester have been removed and replaced with school-based summative assessments, with centralised tests remaining only in the first and third semesters. The new system optimises school days, diversifies student performance assessment tools, enhances learning quality and teaching methods, promotes student wellbeing and adjusts semester weights in line with the updated Amiri highlighted the approval of the second phase of the project-based learning and assessment (PBLA) system, now covering all Cycle 2 students in public and private schools applying the MoE follows the success of phase one, which engaged 127,500 students across 350 also noted the development of the national testing system through a new standardised proficiency test to measure Arabic, English and mathematics skills for grades 4–11 in public schools, with the first phase expected to include 26,000 Amiri reiterated the Ministry's focus on strengthening national identity through Arabic language and Islamic education as the foundation of student character. The new plan increases teaching time for both subjects in kindergarten and dedicates daily hours for Cycle-1 students to reinforce Arabic reading and writing, achieved by redistributing class periods without extending school Arabic baseline assessment will also be introduced in Grade 1 across 100 public and private schools to establish standard levels, enabling tailored support programmes to enhance linguistic skills and steadily raise proficiency, reflecting the Ministry's commitment to placing national identity at the core of operational readiness, Al Amiri announced the opening of nine new schools across several emirates, which will welcome over 25,000 students, supported by more than 800 new teachers. More than 460 schools have been maintained and equipped, 5,500 buses allocated, more than 10 million textbooks printed, and 47,000 laptops Qasim highlighted the Ministry's efforts to enhance students' quality of life through the new Physical Education, Sports and Health Programme in public schools. The first phase of the initiative promotes a healthy, sustainable lifestyle by improving school health environments, organising sports tournaments, restructuring PE classes, and introducing healthy Qasim reiterated the Ministry's continued commitment to partnership with parents and educational cadres, emphasising their important role in shaping the national education system. This year, a participatory educational vision was developed to enhance their involvement in part of this, Ta'aleem Councils are being restructured: the School Leadership Council will have 14 members, the Teachers Council 14 members, and the Young Teachers Council seven members. Additionally, 520 Parents' Councils, representing 6,140 members nationwide, will be activated to contribute to MoE decisions and announced the MoE's educational campaign, 'From Skill to Leadership,' engaging educators, parents and the community. The campaign aims to develop students' skills and transform them into achievements through three pillars: exploration, creating inspiring school environments to discover talent; development, enhancing skills via strategic partnerships and advanced training; and excellence, encouraging participation in local and international programmes will launch in the first month: 'My Inspiring Family' involving parents, and 'Inspiring People in the Field,' both designed to motivate students on their educational MoE confirmed that the coming academic year will see the introduction of its nationally developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum – the first of its kind in the UAE – providing lessons from both local and international communities on integrating AI into education. Approximately 1,000 teachers will implement the curriculum across all grades, aiming to prepare students to use AI responsibly and effectively in daily and future initiative will offer practical insights on harnessing AI in education, helping to shape local educational policies and contribute to the global discussion on the future of Ministry of Education continues to enhance the capabilities of its educational cadres through advanced training programmes. More than 23,000 educators participated in a specialised training week, totalling around 170 hours across 40 workshops for leaders and teachers and 20 workshops for support positions. In the next academic year, the Educational Competency Assessment Project will target more than 12,000 cadres across kindergarten and Cycle 1 levels and 11,000 cadres across Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 in order to define clear career paths and empower staff in line with national education system requirements.
