It is that time of the year again when the Teachers Licensing System (TLS) exam gets underway in the United Arab Emirates. Teachers and education professionals all around the country are gearing up for the test that will make or break their teaching career. From accessing the best IELTS teacher training UAE has to subject-specific coaching for the TLS exam, the teaching community in the Emirati kingdom is getting ready for the exam of their lives. And with education professionals everywhere busy in their test prep in an attempt to pass the upcoming exam with flying colors, we thought we should do some digging ourselves and bring accurate info for you that will help you to easily understand what it takes to become a teacher in the UAE.
First and foremost, let’s understand what is the Teachers Licensing System (TLS) exam? It is a certification issued by the Government of UAE that enables all teachers and educationists to legally work as a teacher in the UAE. No teacher, irrespective of how qualified or experienced he/she might be, can legally work at any place in the UAE without holding this license. In short, this is the first step in the journey of an aspiring teacher who plans to make a career in the education sector of UAE. This test used to be known as the Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS) and Licensing program. The Ministry of Education of the Government of UAE recently shortened the long name to Teachers Licensing System (TLS).
Therefore, if you want to know to become a teacher in the UAE, the first thing to do is to prepare for the TLS exam. As per the latest regulations brought in force by the UAE Ministry of Education, this license is mandatory for each and every teacher. In the first cycle of this new procedure, only the teachers who teach Mathematics, English, Arabic, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry in government and private high schools have been asked to register for the new licenses. Subsequent phases will include teachers of other subjects and school levels too.
All teachers who have been registered in the first phase will receive an email from official sources. This email will direct them to the official TLS website where they will be asked to provide their academic credentials as well as relevant personal information. This registration procedure will not incur any cost on the teachers/test candidates. So, they can keep their resources focused on getting expert coaching and the most effective online IELTS preparation Dubai has to offer.
After you are done with the online registration procedure, the candidates will then have to undertake an exam in their subject of specialization and teaching. The aim of this test is to analyze the level of competency of teachers in their subject of specialization. Test date and time is conveyed to all candidates through an official email. Right now, this test is only available for the subjects of English, Arabic, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology. However, this will be expanded to include other subjects and other school levels when the ensuing test phases are launched.
About three months after the specialization test, another test will gauge the candidates’ knowledge and understanding of the UAE’s culture and heritage, classroom management, teaching ethics, and other pedagogical standards.
Candidates who pass the test will be issued teachers licenses having a validity of one to three years. This duration of license validity will be dependent on a particular teacher’s test score, qualifications, and teaching experience. For candidates who fail to pass the test at the first attempt, they will have two more chances to pass. But before they go for a retake, they must enroll for coaching and training custom-designed to meet their preparation needs and help them iron out the weak links in their preparation. The type of training that you might need will be reflected by your test score. The duration of this training period may vary from one to six months.
In this piece, we
provided you with some basic guidelines
about the newly-introduced TLS exam procedure. For more detailed information, do
not hesitate to visit the official website of the UAE Ministry of Education.