Give pupils a love of reading and you give them the opportunity to educate themselves for the rest of their lives.
That was one of the messages from Hussain Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, at an education conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
"Academic studies have a limited time, but it is reading that keeps the learning process going," Mr Al Hammadi said. "In the new ministerial plan, we want to make sure that we give the student this desire in reading and lifelong education."
He praised the reading law announced on Monday by President Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
The law, which allows workers to take time off from work to read and exempts reading materials from fees and taxes, will boost the education process, Mr Al Hammadi said.
He said the fruits of this law would be seen quickly and would empower Arabic language and education in the region.
"The UAE is not separate from the Arab world – we are one homeland," Mr Al Hammadi said.
The Arab Reading Challenge will also help to increase reading rates in the region, he told the Investing in the Future Education and Development conference at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.
On Sunday, the Cabinet allotted Dh10 billion of its Dh48.7bn budget for next year to education.
"This budget is enough and it will guarantee qualified services," said Mr Al Hammadi.
Education officials at the conference also spoke about teacher workloads and admission standards at universities.
Dr Ali Al Nuaimi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Education Council, said the public had called for cancelling admission examinations for universities and shorter teaching hours, issues that had been raised in the Federal National Council.
A member of the council’s education committee called for cancelling admission exams, saying many high school graduates were unable to enrol in local public universities, and shortening periods for teachers suffering from heavy workloads.
But Dr Al Nuaimi said that the education level of graduates must be further improved so they had the ability to keep up with global standards.
He said parents and the public should stop complaining about study workloads so the UAE could achieve its goals.
"We are an open society and have a competitive approach with the world, so we need to upgrade the level of our graduates," Dr Al Nuaimi said.
"This requires a change in the mentality and preparing society to accept long work hours, like the private sector.
"To be the hub for all fields in the region, international companies need to find in our graduates qualifications to manage their organisations here."
Dr Moza Ghobash, chairwoman of the Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail Award for Creative Women, said students’ geopolitical knowledge also needed to be improved.
"It is as if we want to graduate robots," Dr Ghobash said. "There is development in UAE curriculums but there is no development in geopolitical knowledge.
"The cultural political content is non-existent. The student is not knowledgeable and does not know anything about this field."

Source: The National