Page 411 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Chapter Nine

families soon became affluent enough to be able lo build their own
houses and lo let the low-cosi house to expatriate tenants; this
activity was never officially condoned, but it was a recognised way of
enabling the local population to participate in the Emirate’s wealth.
1 his example is not lost on some of the people who own low-cost
houses in urban areas of the other Emirates, where there is also a
large expatriate population lo whom they may let. However, in very
many cases the recipient families still enjoy the full use as originally
intended and they tend lo see such schemes as one of the most
tangible signs that the Federation is functioning well.
A crucial aspect of the country’s progress over the last ten years is
encompassed in the development of its educational system. The
quality of education need not depend on whether these facilities are
provided by the federal ministry or by the local governments. In
practice, however, it was very important for the credibility of the
Federation that the federal ministry should be seen to take over as
soon as possible from the government of Kuwait the responsibility
for most schools in the northern Emirates; this was done early in
1972.147
At the inception of the Federation about 20,000 children were
attending school in the six northern Emirates, including over 3,000 in
Dubai.140 and over 10,000 children were enrolled in government
schools in Abu Dhabi. During the school year of 1980/81 a total of
108,840 children were studying in schools run by the UAE Ministry
of Education and Youth, which had gradually taken over all govern­
ment schools in the seven Emirates. The increase in the number of
pupils was most dramatic in the towns, namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai
and Sharjah, where the children of the Arab expatriate communities
enrolled in large numbers in government schools, accounting for up
to 80 per cent in some higher classes of secondary schools.149
The construction of new schools concentrated on providing at
least primary education as near to home as possible, in particular in
the small and remote communities of the mountain and desert areas.
As with housing and road construction, the education ministry’s
efforts contributed to the increasing loyalty to the concept of a federal
Stale; and the population willingly accepted penetration of the
federal administration into the often only rudimentary administ­
ration of local government. The culmination of these efforts is
exemplified in the establishment, in Autumn 1976 by the UAE
Ministry of Education and Youth, of the UAE University located in al

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