His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, at the 10th meeting of the fourth ordinary session of the 15th legislative term, held on Tuesday the 17th of February 2015, replied in a written response to a question from Ali Essa Al Nuaimi, Member of the Federal National Council, on the UAE University’s efforts to develop mechanisms for academic advising at the University, since students are facing problems in academic advising, and in guiding them towards the needed disciplines, which are commensurate with their potential and their preference to venture into the labor market, to meet the needs of the knowledge economy and society which the State seeks to reach.
The response added that NAPO Center in the Ministry annually organizes a program of academic counseling for high school students which includes visits to private and government schools and technical institutes, the Ministry coordinates early each year with the Ministry of Education, school boards and school districts in the State, and are informed of the program’s plan for the school year which contains the timetable for the visits and venues to be held in. And the implementation of the program is with the participation of representatives from higher education institutions: UAE University, Higher Colleges of Technology, Zayed University, institutes and colleges of the Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and Emirates College for Advanced Education, and Khalifa University, to respond to queries from students which are received during his visit.
These programs are designed to educate students and their parents of the educational opportunities available to them, in addition to admission and registration mechanism in government institutions of higher education and the scholarships abroad offered by the Ministry, and at private universities in the State and the accredited courses. And everything related, such as requirements for admission, how to apply, and the educational proficiency exam.
The Centre also organizes a series of workshops titled “Working together for the service of students”, aimed at social specialists, coordinators and academics advisors in schools, educational institutions and school districts, to build a bridge of communication and to exchange ideas, information and experiences, to create early awareness about higher education opportunities in the State and provide better services to students. The Ministry, in cooperation with educational institutions in the State, including UAE University, has prepared an electronic guide of higher education institutions which provides all the information related to these institutions, the nature of the study, the number of students, grants offered, the mechanisms of acceptance, specialties offered, and the requirements for admission. Like the previous qualification for each specialty, the acceptance criteria and the period of study, the number of credit hours, fees, educational courses, skills required for each specialty, with a profile on each specialty and the nature of jobs related to it, and the geographical location of the institution, the guide provides information about the specialties required in the labor market of each Emirate.
The University’s role in counseling high school students, which is coordinated with the Ministry during the first months of each year, invitations are sent to all secondary schools in the State, so each university including UAE University explains about its colleges, the specialties available and admission requirements, and other questions and inquiries to enable the students after giving them the answers of choosing specialty that is appropriate to their school credentials and their academic qualifications. In addition to holding counseling exhibitions at the University, through which students can pass by platforms of different colleges to get closely acquainted with its specialties and requirements.
The University is also involved in the Ministry of Education’s vocational education counseling exhibition held in all regions of the State to display all information about the various colleges, university facilities and its many services.
The University also participates in all educational counseling exhibitions at the State level to inform students, their parents and academic personnel, of the role of the University in the field of higher education at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees levels, including; Gulf Education and Training Exhibition, the Najah Exhibition, United Arab Emirates Recruitment, Training & Education Exhibition, Al Ain Education & Career Fair, Al Gharbia Universities Fair, Fujairah Career and Education Fair. The University also accepts all invitations from various secondary schools to respond to inquiries and questions from students and to distribute manuals, and presentation on the specialties. The University reinforces and strengthens its relationship with career counselors in school and provides them with all the information to help students choose the appropriate specialties of their preferences that suites their abilities, the University also hosts an open day and distributes brochures and guides to counselors on the University colleges.
In that context, there are two projects being worked on; the first one targets 10th grade students to make them aware of the requirements of the labor market and the major specialties that meet the developmental needs of the State in accordance with their qualifications and abilities, and the second one attracts secondary school students starting from the ninth grade to communicate with the University through a special website to counsel them, and give them the opportunity to learn about their real tendencies through some tendency measurement tests, and their inquiries are answered immediately.
The role of the University is not only limited to counseling the students before joining it, but it also continues to do so even after their acceptance and selection of appropriate specializations, and all that continues until graduation. The University is always working to ensure the safety of the policies and actions taken in this regard, to make sure that the colleges designate an academic counselor for each student that suits the student’s academic level and specialization, and to provide the student with the completed graduation requirements of the yearly updated study plan. The University also requires the students to participate in the academic counseling conducted by the counseling units and the relevant departments before each registration period, and the students who change their registration in a way that is inconsistent with the academic counseling and their plan of study are held responsible and bear the consequences of this change which may affect their progress in studying and the attainment of the academic degree.
His Excellency’s response drew attention so that academic counseling includes general counseling, which includes introducing the students and their parents to the university’s system, the credit hour system, steps of registration, academic counselors, the University’s regulations and systems, and its facilities and services.
It also includes the special counseling through the appointment of academic counselors who have full experience in the study plans, and the ability to develop a comprehensive strategy to follow up on the students’ academic performance and provide advice and guidance to them during their academic path, in order to graduate in the specified time, without delay, by helping them choose the appropriate courses, and directing them to acquire skills to prepare for entry into the labor market through participation in student activities and communication with others, and encouraging them to participate in the establishment of links between the university and community institutions in preparation for entering the labor market through training, studies, and joint research. The University always strives to strengthen communication between the University’s community and parents.
The Minister, in his response to the question about opening colleges for physical education specialty in the government universities, reiterated that the Ministry is keen to encourage government and private universities to offer academic programs to meet the labor market needs in the State, linking that to the projects of sustainable development, and provide the government and private sectors with national cadres qualified in various specialties. His Excellency added that the Physical Education Specialty had been offered by the UAE University, and 220 citizens graduated with a major in this specialty, and they work in different sectors relevant to physical education. However, the specialty was frozen in 2000 after the decline in its popularity, while the program is currently being developed in order to re-open it at the beginning of the academic year 2015-2016, and students will be made aware of the importance of this program through academic counseling, so as to be later taught in government and private universities, in order to activate and qualify the national cadres in this field, which may enhance the future establishment of specialized colleges in this field in the State.
