No final exams for UAE public schools this semester: Ministry

Mohammed Ibrahim, Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Education (MoE) said in a circular to the schools and kindergartens administrations that there are no final exams in this semester for all grades, noting that the evaluation of students' performance will be based on the formative assessment by the teacher and in accordance with the central directives.

The ministry stressed the necessity to perform English language speaking tests for students of all streams (General, Advanced and Elite) in grades from 4 to 12 during the period from March 21 to March 25.

“Alternative tests must be performed at the beginning of the third semester for students who did not attend the basic test. Students of the Applied stream are excluded from these tests,” indicated the Ministry.

The MoE pointed out that the English language speaking constitutes 40% of the score of the third semester exam, so the teacher must keep all results papers in a safe place in order to register scores in the books of the third semester.

“The test includes questions in PDF format, an evaluation form and an Excel-based score sheet,” MoE pointed out.  

The Ministry directed the use of MS Teams to facilitate speaking tests, with the necessity to run surveillance cameras during the grade 12 students test, and there must be an additional marker.

Each exam is expected to take approximately 3 minutes with an additional minute counted by the official or supervisor, according to the Ministry.

It is compulsory to activate all educational platforms to carry out the Formative assessment procedures according to subject and grade, and this should be available during the spring vacation which begins on Jan.28, to reinforce students' skills.