UAE becomes first country to make AI a mandatory K-12 subject, diverging from Western bans
alexvoica · x · 2026-10-21
Rest of World reports the UAE has become the first country to make AI a required K-12 subject for children as young as seven, standing in stark contrast to moves like New York City's one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI through grade 8.
- Henry Price, founding principal of Rugby School Dubai, described lessons on the Stone Age where kids read, create cave-painting art, then explore it in VR — with plans to use AI to "interview" a pharaoh next.
- He stresses AI should enhance, not replace, reading, writing and creativity: kids who "use AI to ask better questions," not passive users.
- Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority says integration must be developmentally appropriate.
- The UAE and China treat early AI literacy as a national priority while some Western governments move the opposite way.
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