A. SREENIVASA REDDY/ SARA ALZAABI(ABU DHABI)
Faculty and students alike welcomed the UAE government's move to scrap the Emirates Standardised Test (EmSAT) for Grade 12 students.
Speaking to Aletihad, Ghadeer Abu-Shamat, Principal/CEO of Al Khaleej International School in Dubai and Senior Vice President for Education at GEMS, said the test was originally designed as a unified measure to assess the competence of students for admission into various publicly funded universities, such as UAE University, Khalifa University, University of Sharjah, and Ajman University. The test scores were also the basis for granting scholarships to study abroad, she added.
In the old system, all students, both Emiratis and expats, were required to take EmSAT to become eligible for admission into public universities, she noted.
When asked about the possible reasons for scrapping the exam, she stated: "Probably the outcomes of the exam have not been good for both students and the system itself." Now, public universities can develop their own criteria to assess students before admitting them into their courses, she explained. This could include their performance in school exams, especially in subjects relevant to the courses they are applying for.
Regarding the granting of scholarships for Emiratis to study abroad, Abu-Shamat said the government will need to formulate a new methodology to identify eligible students. Overall, the UAE government's move to scrap the exam is good news for both students and institutions, she added.
Abu-Shamat leads a school where most students are Emiratis studying in an American curriculum. "My students will now have a better shot at higher education," she remarked.
The UAE Government Media Office announced the decision to scrap EmSAT in a social media post on Sunday. Elaborating on the decision, the media office stated that the move is designed to ensure a seamless transition to higher education, enabling "students to pursue their future ambitions throughout their academic and career paths." The decision provides universities with additional flexibility in setting admission criteria, which will create diverse pathways for students, it said.
Aletihad spoke to a cross-section of students to elicit their reactions to the cancellation of the test.
Welcoming the decision, Fatema Yousef, a Grade 12 student at GEMS Al Khaleej International School, Dubai, said: "As a student, I feel that the decision to scrap the EmSAT is a significant improvement for fairness in education, as removing this standardised test allows us to be assessed based on our individual strengths and goals, giving every student a better chance to succeed without the burden of meeting excessive requirements."
Stating that a single standardised test is not a good idea, she added that the new system gives universities more flexibility to set their admission criteria based on each student's specific subject grades. "This means that students with strong scores in subjects like biology or chemistry for medical programmes and mathematics for engineering can be evaluated more fairly for their chosen field," she noted.
Fares Alhammadi, another Grade 12 student at the same school, amplified the point, saying that universities now have the opportunity to evolve their own criteria "in a more diverse way, without being limited to what the EmSAT offers, and that takes into account the fields students want to study."
"The decision is a good step for the UAE as a whole and another stride in enhancing our education," he added.
Students across all emirates also welcomed the decision, stating that it would reduce stress and exam anxiety among students.
"The decision to cancel the EmSAT exam is very beneficial for students, as it reduces stress and psychological pressure. The exam was long and could cause some students to lose their skills due to stress, even if they were capable," said Moza Jassim Al Jadaa, a Grade 12 student at Al Shifa Bint Abdullah School in Kalba.
EmSAT turned out to be more of a distraction and caused students to lose focus. "Now I can focus more on improving my academic performance in core subjects instead of worrying about the EmSAT," Al Jadaa said.
"The EmSAT was more of an added pressure, and I felt my performance might not reflect my abilities due to the stress associated with it," she added.
Maryam Al Hammadi, a student at ADNOC School, has a slightly different view. She stated that EmSAT offered an opportunity for students to improve their chances of getting admission into higher educational institutions. "I believe that the decision to cancel the EmSAT may reduce pressure on students, but it might also deprive them of the opportunity to showcase their skills independently," she said. While admitting that EmSAT placed pressure on students, she defended the test. "I feel that cancelling the EmSAT reduces pressure, but I would have preferred having it as one of the criteria available for assessing students fairly."