Dubai's First School Celebrates 100th Birthday

Al Ahmadiya School, Dubai's first regular school, has marked its centenary this week.  The school, which has seen many of Dubai's great and the good pass through its doors was established in 1912 by Shaikh Ahmad bin Dalmouk, a well-to-do merchant.  More than 3,500 students are graduates of the school including the current ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The curriculum was originally based on traditional religious teachings and the school admitted students for free at first before a nominal charge of of 3-5 Indian rupees was introduced. Fees for poor students were paid by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Dalmouk.

Both primary and advanced education was available at the school with some of the students at advanced level teaching the younger pupils.

The school's fortunes followed that of Dubai and with the collapse of the pearl industry in the 1930s the school, like several others in Dubai, was forced to close. It was re-opened in 1937 with the subsidy of the government authorities in Dubai.  Al Ahmadiya was the first school in the emirate to introduce a formal curriculum in 1956.  In its heyday in the early 1960s the school was full to the rafters of students eager for learning and the overcrowding led the authorities to move Al Ahmadiya to its current location near Al Ras metro station.

Since 2000 the school has been a museum for education.