The UAE offers free education to all male and female citizens from kindergarten to university. There is also an extensive private education sector, while several thousand students, of both sexes, pursue courses of higher education abroad at Government expense. Education at primary and secondary level is universal and compulsory up to ninth grade. This takes place in a four-tier process over 14 years, from 4 to 18.

Emiratisation of teaching staff in government schools is scheduled to reach 90 per cent by 2020. However, over 40 per cent of pupils attend private schools, some of which offer foreign language education geared towards expatriate communities, usually preserving the culture and following the curriculum of the students' countries of origin. The UAE has established an excellent and diversified system of higher education.

Although the UAE has achieved much in the field of education, there is a real awareness that constant updating of policy and continual investment in infrastructure is required to ensure that graduates are properly equipped to enter the work force and assist in the country’s development.

The Ministry of Education has produced a policy document outlining a strategy for further educational development in the UAE up to the year 2020, based on several five-year plans.