Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
Early childhood centres in Dubai are recording significant growth, evident in a 15% increase in enrollment in the last academic year, according to a recent report issued by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).
The report, released on Wednesday, is titled “Growing Up Fast: Early Childhood Centres in Dubai”. It revealed that 27 new early childhood centres opened their doors for the first time in Dubai last year, which witnessed the enrollment of an additional 3,000 children.
The report also featured data on the types and locations of early childhood centres in Dubai, the number of teachers, and the diversity of learning approaches and nationalities.
There are currently 23,779 children from various age groups, up to six years old, enrolled at 249 early childhood centres in Dubai, of whom 78% attend five days a week. The centres are operated by 1,473 teachers, 2,199 teaching assistants, 522 care assistants, 101 inclusion support staff, and 189 medical staff.
Parents can choose from 14 different curricula for their children, including Early Years Foundation Stage, Montessori, Ontario, American Washington State, The French Kindergarten Programme, The Creative Curriculum, Norwegian, International Preschool Curriculum, American Colorado State, UAE Ministry of Education, Finnish, National Early Learning Framework, Swedish, and Waldorf.
The report further noted that 81% of early childhood centres in Dubai are open all year round and more than 77% offer extracurricular activities.
The main languages of instruction are English, Arabic, French, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, and Russian, according to the report, which revealed that 64% of these centres have children of up to 20 different nationalities, 29% have children of 21 to 40 different nationalities, and 7% have children of more than 41 different nationalities.
