Out of School and Out of Frame? Non-National Marginalized Children in the United Arab Emirates

• In Event: Diversity and international education

Proposal

Over the past decade, 110 million more children have enrolled in school since the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education in 2015 (UNESCO, 2024). Such developments align with the global principle recognizing education as a public good and human right since the mid-20th century (Daviet, 2016). However, despite such progress, the total population of out-of-school children has declined by only 1% during this decade (UNESCO, 2024). Moreover, the release of UNESCO’s 2025 SDG 4 scorecard paints a starker image: due to national-level updates of school-population statistics, estimates of out-of-school children have increased from 251 million in 2024 to 272 million in 2025, with a projected undercount of 13 million due to conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia (UNESCO, 2024; UNESCO, 2025). Hence, according to UNESCO, “a more realistic estimate of the total out-of-school population is 285 million,” leaving countries off-track to decrease the global number of out-of-school children by 165 million by 2030 (UNESCO, 2025, 17).

At the regional level, in the Gulf states, few statistics outline the state of out-of-school children’s enrollment in school across the primary, lower-secondary, and upper secondary levels, (UNESCO, 2025). The phenomenon of out-of-school children in the Gulf may be further exacerbated by the fact that non-nationals, in particular, are required to turn to private education in the absence of a public option, which is provided free of charge for nationals across the Gulf (Ridge et al., 2016). In the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report reveals that 1% of children across all levels remain out-of-school in the UAE. In Ras Al Khaimah, a northern emirate in the UAE, census statistics demonstrate that there were 2,267 out-of-school children aged 6 through 16 in 2023, 75% of which are non-nationals (Ras Al Khaimah Statistics Center, 2023). The number of males is slightly higher than females, mirroring a broader trend of male educational disengagement in the country (Ridge, 2014; Ridge et al., 2022). However, the census data does not reflect the factors contributing to why children remain unenrolled in schools in Ras Al Khaimah.

Accordingly, this ongoing study seeks to explore the factors affecting non-national children who are not enrolled in school in the emirate. Engaging with theories of distributive and social justice in education (Martin & Gilead, 2020; Robertson & Dale, 2013), this study applies a mixed-methods approach using the UNESCO Global Out-of-School Children Initiative’s Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) (UNICEF, 2015). This framework identifies children not in school or at risk of dropping out across pre-primary, primary, and lower secondary education. Over 50 semi-structured telephone and in-person interviews were conducted with non-national parents of out-of-school children in Ras Al Khaimah, spanning Arab, South Asian, and African families. In addition, a document analysis of existing sources, statistics, and other policy documents will complement the data analysis.

Preliminary findings identify affordability, accessibility, and cultural challenges as the primary cause(s) for children to be out of school. Parents reported the inability to afford their children’s tuition fees, with some parents being priced out of schools (Ridge et al., 2016) due to their record of outstanding debt. Some bureaucratic challenges include expired residency permits and lack of official documentation to re-enroll their children in schools, which further exacerbates already complex enrolment procedures (Farhat, 2024). Additionally, when required to choose, some parents indicated a subtle gendered preference in school enrolment, often prioritizing boys over girls. Based on these findings, this study aims to suggest targeted interventions to policymakers which can support marginalized families and uphold global educational inclusivity principles for the benefit of all children in the UAE.

Authors

• Janaan O Farhat, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research

• Alyazyah Ahmed Almarzooqi, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research