Sheikh Khalifa’s legacy: How the late President made UAE a global hub for education

Sheikh Khalifa’s legacy: How the late President made UAE a global hub for education

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan who became President in 2004 after the death of Sheikh Zayed has played a pivotal role in making the UAE a regional and global hub for education.

Carrying forward the legacy Sheikh Zayed, one of Sheikh Khalifa’s top priorities was always education. Sheikh Zayed believed that education would be the cornerstone in helping create an inclusive and prosperous society in the UAE.

The commitment to education helped diversify the economy and prepared a new generation of young people ready to compete in the global marketplace. In 1975, the rate of adult literacy was 58 per cent among men and 38 per cent among women. Today, literacy rates for both genders are close to 95 per cent.

Under Sheikh Khalifa’s leadership, new initiatives have been launched at all levels of education. A key area of focus has been transforming K-to-12 programmes to ensure that UAE students are fully prepared to attend universities around the world and compete in the global marketplace.

The UAE also reviewed and enhanced its national curriculum and Emirati textbooks to meet international standards for peace and tolerance in school education, according to research organisation IMPACT-se.

All these initiatives saw the UAE the destination of choice for