Learn about the nitty-gritty of Teaching License in UAE

A teaching license refers to the teaching credential that is needed to allow you to legally work as a teacher within a given area (in countries abroad as well as your home state, province or country).

Depending on where you qualified as a teacher, a teaching license might be alternatively known as a teaching certification, qualification or credential.

In order to practice a teaching profession in the UAE, the applicant must

Have a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree or a 4-year university degree or higher in the required field. This rule applies for public/government schools as well as private schools in the UAE. Other conditions include:

A criminal clearance record
A medical fitness report from the UAE
Original of educational certificates
Attested certificates in case the educator has graduated from a university outside the UAE; the certificate must be attested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the country's embassy in the UAE.

The students frequently ask: "Do I need a teaching license to teach English in private schools in UAE?"

The answer is as follows:

A minimum of a 4-year college degree (BA/BS) and a TEFL certification is typically required to teach English in the UAE.
Many schools also require prior teaching experience and/or a Master's Degree.

The Teachers’ Licensing System (TLS) is going to be mandatory by 2020

In 2017, the UAE introduced the pilot phase of the UAE Teachers’ Licensing System (TLS). TLS teaching licence will become a requirement for education professionals in the UAE by the end of 2020.

All principals, vice-principals, managers and teachers working across all public and private schools in the UAE will have to hold a UAE teacher’s licence to work legally in the UAE.

Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS)

The TELS (Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards) UAE project is co-developed by the National Qualifications Authority (NQA), the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) along with the Ministry of Education (MoE). The whole project is in association with the British University in Dubai (BUiD). The primary objective is to bring in uniformity in the teachers' aptitude with the help of a standard licensing framework. The project is aimed at bringing the international standard of education in the UAE at par with the global systems.

Application for teacher license; teachers who meet the preliminary requirements tend to get the provincial license
Teachers identifying their needs and completing a self-assessment
      2.1 Ethics and conduct: knowledge regarding the UAE ethics, cultures
        2.2 Professional knowledge: theories of learning, stages of professional development
        2.3 Professional practice
        2.4 Professional growth

(3) Review by the British University in Dubai (BUiD) and further training
(4) Once the TELS UAE exam has been successfully completed, teachers would be able to earn the UAE Competent Teacher Status License, which would allow them to teach in any school in the UAE.