United Arab Emirates: Building awareness of GIS in education through government and university outreach

Since 1970, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. The country offers a fully fledged educational system from primary level to university. Much has been achieved since the early 1970s, but efforts are now being made to improve the educational environment for all pupils, in line with a reevaluation of the role of government. Now that the infrastructure is in place, the educational focus is on devising and implementing a strategy that will ensure that the youth of the country are ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century workplace. The education strategy of the country aims to introduce the latest information technology at all school levels. Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) concepts into schools is very important to teach students relevant skills in spatial analysis, reasoning, and data processing. GIS in secondary schools education is a new topic in the UAE and there are few schools and teachers who have used GIS in classrooms. This chapter reviews the current status of the secondary school system in the UAE and the prospects for learning about GIS, followed by case study that illustrates how GIS is used by one secondary school. The opportunities, challenges, and obstacles associated with incorporating GIS into UAE secondary schools are then presented.