My mom works here and it’s amazing and there are 4 floors!
For a UAE resident who has dealt with different departments of the government, Ministry of Education (MOE) is clearly the most bureaucratic and inefficient.
My experience: I applied for my certificate equivalency back in Nov 2016. I got my Bachelor and PhD in top-20 (in the world ranking) universities in UK and US respectively. I got all my documents authenticated by UAE foreign embassy, etc, as required. Surprisingly they told me that I should apply for equivalency for my high-school diploma first before verifying my documents for BSc and PhD. It's puzzling. Okay, I went back home and got my high-school docs done. A waste of time/money/efforts but I got it done.
After submitting all BSc and PhD-related docs, the additional paperwork were endless. They asked me to get departure/arrival record of UAE in airport in Abu Dhabi. Ok I got it done. I went to MOE again for further application. In Oct 2017 (after almost a year), they told me that my application was rejected. No reason was given initially. After calling them for a few times, they said I did not provide them the passport stamp records which should have shown all my departure/arrival from US during my PhD study. It is a funny requirement as US immigration never stamped on any passport for departure. Btw, who cares about the passport stamps when someone got his PhD from a good university (with all the transcript and PhD cert attested and authenticated already)?
Anyway, that's it! It's simply because US immigration does not stamp on any passport for departure. My application was rejected.
MOE is most likely the only ministry of education in the world which does not recognize a certified true copy of academic degrees from top 20 universities. It's interesting.
In one occasion, I asked them for the reason of requiring passport stamps as it seems unrelated to the authenticity of my qualification. They replied like this: "because there is a chance you bought your degree or did some online courses/distance education without staying in the US for your study."
I would wonder how one could buy a PhD degree from a prestigious (Ivy-League) university in the US without staying in the US. I guess many (rich) people would like to know how to buy a PhD in a top university too. Maybe MOE could provide an answer about it?
You can call them or visit them in person, every staff says different things on requirements. Staff are not properly trained and some know nothing about the application process. So it may end up that, like my case, you visit there 5 times, everytime they request something which is not listed on their website. It's a waste of time and efforts, but at the end, they may reject you due to some reasons unrelated to the authenticity of your degree and certificates.
Strangely, they said those entry and departure stamps are only required for those graduated after 2000. So, probably someone who paid for a PhD in an unknown money-making degree mill (with a label of US institution), without staying in the US before 2000, would easily get the certificate equivalency.
The following two examples can be used to summarize the logic 'invented' by MOE:
(1) Proper qualification in BSc or PhD mean nothing, they want to check your high-school diploma first. (So, if you lost papers for high-school graduation, then even if you got your PhD in Oxbridge, these are not qualified according to MOE)
(2) You need departure stamps (which, depends on your country of study, may not be available as a lot of immigration office do not stamp on passports for departures these days. Some may even use e-gates) to show that you properly studied in one country. A certificate attested by all parties mean nothing. Also, letters from the department showing that you have actually studied and did research inside the country means nothing.
On the other hand, the MOE may deserve a rating of 5 stars by inventing such 'interesting logic' of approving degrees and certificates. It is really a piece of genius's work as I (as well as many others) am not clever enough to understand its rationale.
Went there to check attestation for my master degree I am about to take online, as recommended on their website (to check accreditation before actually applying) The lady kept telling me after graduation from masters I can come and see. Explained several times that I need to know before I actually start the course, so i dont waste my money, she explained i should apply for IFADA online and I cannot do it from there.
Asked for time frame for the service the lady told me no time frame, I explained that there should be a time frame for any service so we can plan ahead of time she said just wait for two weeks and inshallah it will be there,
The staff didnt seem knowledgeable, felt like they r trying to get rid of me as they were about to close.
Also she mentioned that after taking my online masters even if it is accredited, if my bachelors degree isn’t accredited it will NOT be attested.
Disappointing!
if i want to meet with the Minister of Education to discuss about an important matter which is very much required for the benefit of students well being, anyone has contact details how to proceed.