ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 01st Apr, 2021) A representative sample of UAE students from across the United Arab Emirates (Grade 3, Grade 5, Grade 7, and Grade 9) from both the public and private school sectors, completed the Moral Education Standardised Assessment 2021 (MESA 2021) between the 1st and 25th of March 2021.
The results of the evaluation - which covered more than 10,000 students in 102 schools - will help support teaching and learning the programme and drive curriculum improvement. It will also enhance students' acquisition of the values and principles on which it is based.
Moral Education is an innovative, engaging curriculum designed to develop young people of all nationalities and ages in the UAE with universal principles and values, that reflect the shared experiences of humanity. The moral education programme covers four pillars of teaching and learning: personality and morality, the individual and society, civic studies, and cultural studies.
MESA 2021 operations worked closely with key stakeholders including the Ministry of Education, KHDA, SPEA, and ADEK as well as a select number of schools that represented the student population from both public and private schools across the UAE.
Mohammed Al Neaimi, Director of the Education Affairs Office at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, the body that oversees the implementation of the Moral Education Programme, said, "This assessment provides a wealth of information and data regarding the students’ knowledge of the Moral Education programme values, and enables us to measure the success of the ME curriculum overall. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, we were able to reach a large number of students and assess their knowledge of ME values and its impact on their behaviour."
The assessment consisted of three test forms with approximately 30 items specifically designed to assess the knowledge, understanding, and behaviour of candidates. A new bank of questions was developed to incorporate the use of images and animation to enhance candidate engagement and response. The assessment also provided an experimental personality test to support benchmarking responses with international standardised tests such as PISA, SSES, PIRLS, and TIMSS.
The assessment was conducted online via a remote human proctored service or through physical testing. Schools that conducted physical assessments were provided all the tools, equipment, and invigilators necessary. Students took the assessment on specifically formatted tablets provided by the MESA operations team. The assessment application was pre-loaded on the tablets and used offline without having to connect to the school's wireless internet network. This ensured that there were no technical difficulties ensuring schools could complete the assessment successfully.
Each school participating in the assessment will receive a report highlighting the performance of its students compared to other schools in the same emirate and UAE without revealing the identity of the students who participated.
In line with the UAE Vision 2021, the results will support the continuous development and evolution of the Moral Education curriculum, drive innovative teaching and learning practice and provide valuable insights by comparing outcomes against international standardised assessments.
