Social, Educational and Health Problems Group

The Emirati community has witnessed significant social and economic developments over the past four decades due to a social change scheme applied by the United Arab Emirates. Social and educational changes resulted in the emergence of several problems pertaining primarily to family life, teaching, and the community. Examples of social problems are marriage to foreign women, domestic violence, divorce, overspending, volunteer work issues, low female participation in economic and political affairs, and crime, among others. Regarding educational problems, cultural and educational institutions (high school and university) face serious problems as a result of continuous development.

Some of these problems are related to the educational environment, teaching methods, communication with students, programs and curricula, faculty capacities, students and their parents, and management, in addition to other problems which affect the standards and the quality of the educational process. These problems call for devising policies and strategic future plans that contribute to the reform and the development of high school and university teaching systems. The strategy should comprise a thorough evaluation of the realities of the educational system, the accurate identification of the most serious problems, research on solutions that would help overcome problems, and action plans that could help in improving the quality of education in educational institutions.

The work of this research group is rooted in the importance of conducting scientific research on problems in policy, society, and education. This research group aims at publishing studies in reputable scientific journals and presenting the results of its research studies to decision-makers in the Emirati community, so that recommendations can be used to reform policies.

The members of this research group come from a variety of disciplines: sociology, education.  Two research plans on social and educational issues will be proposed.