As of the 2018 academic year, public schools across the UAE will integrate co-education to previously single-gender classrooms, beginning with Grade 1. The rule will be gradually applied in the coming years to include students up to Grade 4. Although some private schools are familiar with gender-varied spaces, this is a new feature in the realm of public schools in the UAE.

The Ministry of Education implemented the policy to combat issues students might face in their future places of work. After being in gender-segregated environments for the majority of their lives, young individuals may face difficulty in establishing or maintaining professional relationships at work.

Some women even avoid male-dominated fields due to a lack of comfort in mixed-gender environments. Although it has been widely reported that this new integrated environment would mitigate the [poorer performance of boys in school] (https://www.thenational.ae/uae/education/exclusive-mixed-gender-classes-will-curb-bad-behaviour-in-uae-government-schools-1.766814), girls could greatly benefit as well.

Sarah Abdulsalam, educated in an all-girls environment from primary school until university graduation, found the shift from school to the workplace difficult. “It was very difficult for me to talk to guys … I was so shy and awkward,” said Abdulsalam.

Abdulsalam continued: “It took six months to get over it and still sometimes it peaks. If I was exposed to [mixed environments] and it was considered normal that wouldn’t be the case.”

Sager Al Mannai, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Associate Director of Admissions, believes it is a move in the right direction as it is a “mirroring of professional life later on … you’re most likely going to be integrating in university or professional life with people of the opposite gender.”

It seems natural that government schools reflect the settings of government work sectors where “institutions have men and women working in the same department or across different institutions,” Al Mannai continued.

This decision could eliminate potential obstacles students face when entering the next phase of their employment or higher education by better preparing them for the transition. Al Mannai commented on that some students “feel a little intimidated or they don’t know how to act like themselves or perform as well as they can [in mixed gender settings].”

This decision drew mixed reactions from the public. Some parents applauded the change. As reported in The Khaleej Times Salma Rashid, mother of two, said “It will help our children learn how to socialize with pupils of other gender who are not related with them at an early age.”

Many parents, however, removed their children from what they deemed a threatening environment. The National reported on Hind Al Naqbi, recalling her daughter's experience as traumatic. Once “lively and sociable, [she] suffered from being around boys in her kindergarten class. They used to ridicule her every time she spoke.”

The process of this application will be gradual, integrating incoming students yearly from Grade 1 up until Grade 4. Some parents questioned the objective of this decision if classrooms will be segregated again following Grade 4.

Dr. Fatma Abdulla, Senior Vice Provost at NYUAD, said “There's also other research that shows that when there are boys in the class, they're rowdier … so what happens is that once [boys] are in these environments, they begin to see their peers and they see the girls being rewarded [for behaving] and then they [mimic that behavior]. So it's better for the boys, but it necessarily doesn't translate into being better for the girls.”

However, where single-sex education cultivates gender-specific needs, gender-varied spaces could introduce stereotype threat. The introduction of biases in the classroom, albeit subtly, can permanently shape how students evaluate their own abilities, of which girls can be the most vulnerable.

“In single-gender environments women don’t have the same limiting beliefs about their abilities in various fields [like mathematics and science].” Dr. Abdulla stated, “They should be aware of these types of biases and the teachers’ biases and how they can impact female achievement in the UAE.”

Despite resistance from parents on the more conservative side of the spectrum, Minister of State of Public Education Jameela Al Muhairi asserted that the change would improve the socialization of pupils, claiming that “it would help them better understand each other.”

Many feel that both genders would benefit from interacting with the opposite sex in the classroom. Antje Von Suchodoletz, Assistant Professor of Psychology at NYUAD focuses her research on child development. She explained that despite gender differences in children’s play habits, “if they interact, they have to deal with both approaches to play.”

Due to gender conventions, girls can be limited to interactions that fall within feminine stereotypes. For girls, being exposed to boys’ play habits would “open up new areas of play and interest for girls,” said Von Suchodoletz.

This educational shift could potentially bridge the gap to larger issues of industry representation in the future. For example, female underrepresentation in fields like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Although some applaud the change and want to propel it forward to all age groups, the policy process must be respected. The parents of these schoolchildren faced a vastly different cultural and educational upbringing, making a certain level of resistance natural.

Von Suchodoletz stressed the importance to “get into a conversation not to overwhelm people and to be mindful of the history of the society and how the community is built.”

Even those who adamantly disapprove and opt their children out of the new system should be welcomed into this dialogue. As a solution to generational tension, Von Suchodoletz suggests to have parents see the policy’s impact for themselves and “invite them into the classroom.”

Being open, inclusive and maintaining conversation is key, which the Ministry of Education continuously strives to do with their [recent educational advancements] (https://www.thenational.ae/uae/education/education-reforms-put-uae-pupils-on-track-for-better-learning-1.139060).