Starting in September 2026, a new Arabic language education program named IQRA will be implemented in Ras Al Khaimah private schools, aimed at strengthening Arabic reading skills among young students.

The word IQRA means "read" in Arabic. Developed by the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, independent evaluations have shown that the program can lead to significant progress in Arabic literacy.

According to the foundation, an independent assessment revealed that children participating in IQRA classes progressed the equivalent of 25 percent more of a school year in reading skills compared to students following the standard Arabic curriculum.

The trial was conducted during the 2024-2025 academic year by J-PAL MENA, covering 83 classrooms across 26 schools in Ras Al Khaimah. Officials stated that the study is one of the largest research projects on early Arabic literacy in the UAE.

Students in the IQRA program showed measurable progress in skills such as letter identification, word reading, decoding nonsense words, and oral reading fluency. The strongest results were recorded in word reading, where the median student moved from the 50th to the 58th percentile.

These improvements were observed among both native and non-native Arabic-speaking students.

One of the primary challenges in teaching Arabic is the gap between everyday spoken Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic, which is used in textbooks and classrooms. The IQRA program is designed to address this challenge by breaking down reading instruction into simpler, more structured stages.

Developed in collaboration with Dr. Helen Abadzi, a cognitive psychologist and education expert, the program focuses on phonics, letter recognition, decoding, and fluency.

Dr. Natasha Ridge, Executive Director of the Al Qasimi Foundation, said the IQRA results demonstrate that the issue is not the difficulty of the Arabic language itself, but rather the teaching methodology. She noted that when Arabic is taught in alignment with how children actually learn to read, progress can be rapid and measurable.

The IQRA program is designed for children from KG1 to Grade 1 and is aligned with the UAE Ministry of Education’s Arabic curriculum. It is intended to enhance existing Arabic instruction rather than replace the current curriculum.

The program has previously been piloted in classrooms in Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, yielding promising initial results.