UAE education ministry to transform itself with Project NOVA
Project aims to unify data and integrate AI across education system
#UAE #education — The UAE Ministry of Education has launched the NOVA project to rebuild the government education sector around artificial intelligence and data systems. The project aims to unify workflows across the ministry and the wider education sector, turning data into insights that support faster decision-making and measurable outcomes for students, teachers, schools and parents. UAE Minister of Education H.E. Sarah Al Amiri said the project reflects UAE government direction to embed AI and advanced data technologies into government operations.
SO WHAT? — The NOVA announcement seems to be a statement of institutional intent, aligning with UAE government-wide directives to integrate AI across operations and create new agentic AI services. The project follows one year after the ministry introduced AI curricula throughout the national school system and two months after the federal government announced a goal to deploy agentic AI across 50 percent of government sectors, services and operations within two years. The NOVA project confirms that the Ministry of Education plans its own comprehensive digital transformation using AI.
KEY POINTS:
The UAE Ministry of Education has launched the NOVA project, a strategic initiative for comprehensive institutional transformation powered by AI, aligned with the UAE’s wider push to accelerate AI adoption across government. The project builds on the ministry’s existing investments in digital transformation, AI, capacity building and data systems made in recent years.
The project aims to consolidate the UAE’s position as a global hub for digital innovation and improve the readiness of government institutions for future demands, according to the ministry.
NOVA is intended to convert ministry data into actionable insights supporting faster, better-informed decisions, with the stated goal of improving educational outcomes for students, teachers, schools and parents.
UAE Minister of Education H.E. Sarah Al Amiri described the project as part of the ministry’s commitment to incorporating AI and advanced data technologies into government operations, redesigning and streamlining existing processes.
The ministry said NOVA aims to unify institutional workflows across the ministry and the education sector, creating a transparent working environment based on reliable data and smart systems.
The launch sits within the ministry’s strategic objectives of aligning education outputs with future skills needs and adopting advanced technology to strengthen education outcomes.
ZOOM OUT — The UAE became one of the first countries in the world to mandate AI education across an entire government school system. Starting in the 2025/26 academic year, the Ministry of Education implemented a nationwide curriculum for AI studies from kindergarten through to Grade 12, reaching around 300,000 students.Covering seven areas from foundational concepts and ethics to real-world applications and project design, the curricula was developed in collaboration with G42 subsidiary Presight, AI71, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Emirates College for Advanced Education. China and Saudi Arabia are the only other countries to have implemented similar national school programmes for AI education.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: Emirates News Agency
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