2025: The Year AI Enters Every UAE Classroom, From KG to Grade 12

In a groundbreaking step toward future-ready education, the UAE is set to become the first Arab nation, and one of the few globally, to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a formal subject across all public schools, starting from the 2025–2026 academic year.

This strategic initiative will embed AI learning from kindergarten through Grade 12, ensuring that the next generation grows up not just using technology, but understanding and shaping it.

Building a Nation of Ethical Coders and Critical Thinkers

The curriculum goes far beyond basic coding. According to The National News, the program will include modules on:

• Data and algorithms
  
  

• Machine learning principles
  
  

• AI ethics and societal impact
  
  

• Real-world problem-solving with AI
  
  

By introducing AI concepts at an early age, the UAE aims to cultivate a generation that approaches technology with confidence and critical thinking, not fear.

Key Partnerships Powering the Initiative

The Ministry of Education has partnered with major players in the AI space to make this vision a reality. Among them:

• MBZUAI (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence)
  
  

• Presight AI, a data analytics firm under G42
  
  

• AI71, the UAE’s national AI company
  
  

These institutions are helping design a curriculum that’s interactive, evolving, and grounded in real-world use cases, from smart agriculture to cybersecurity.

A Regional Benchmark for AI Literacy

This move isn’t just forward-thinking; it’s foundational. While other nations discuss digital transformation in education, the UAE is acting. Countries like the UK and China have made strides in teaching AI concepts, but the UAE’s plan to start as early as KG is unmatched in scale and depth.

By embedding AI as a core subject, the nation is equipping its youth to compete, create, and lead in an AI-first global economy.

As noted by UNESCO, early AI education is one of the key levers for inclusive digital development. The UAE’s policy shows that regional leadership is not just about adoption, but active innovation.

LemoniLab’s Perspective: Why This Matters

We view this initiative as a milestone for the region. As a software and innovation house deeply involved in AI solutions for public and private sectors, we understand that the true power of AI doesn’t lie in the tools, it lies in the people who use them.

By fostering AI literacy from a young age:

• Children grow up with healthy digital instincts
  
  

• Future talent pipelines become more homegrown and resilient
  
  

• Public sector innovation becomes self-sustaining and culturally rooted
  
  

It’s less about training kids for future jobs, and more about helping them imagine and build the future themselves.