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Good practice Imported

UAE Ministry of Education — 'Safe and Responsible Use of AI in Classrooms 2026' Sets 25 National Prohibitions

United Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi · See the United Arab Emirates profile · See the Abu Dhabi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 59% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

The UAE's February 2026 classroom-AI guide bars generative AI for under-13s, forbids its use in formal exams, and bans uploading students' personal data to external AI services, naming ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Claude as the only approved tools.

25
Named prohibitions in the classroom AI guide
4
AI tools authorised for teaching and learning
1,000+
Trained educators delivering the national AI curriculum
UAE Ministry of Education — 'Safe and Responsible Use of AI in Classrooms 2026' Sets 25 National Prohibitions

Details

Promoter
United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education
Period
2025–2026
Keywords
K-12 education, national policy, AI governance, data protection

Context

In February 2026, the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Education published 'Safe and Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Classrooms 2026,' a national guide setting out 25 specific prohibitions governing generative AI use in government schools.

Objectives

The guide aims to govern classroom AI use safely alongside the UAE's mandatory national K-12 AI curriculum, which has been taught since the 2025-26 academic year by more than 1,000 trained educators.

Activities

The rules bar generative AI tools for students under 13 or below Year 7, prohibit AI use during formal exams and undisclosed submissions, forbid uploading students' personal data to external AI services, ban bypassing school cybersecurity controls (including via VPNs) to reach unapproved platforms, and name four AI systems — ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Claude — as the only tools authorised for teaching and learning.

Conclusions

The guide followed the UAE Cabinet's May 2025 decision to make AI a mandatory K-12 subject, making the UAE both the first country with a compulsory national AI curriculum and one of the first to pair it with an explicit classroom-use prohibitions list; no learning-outcome evidence has yet been published.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, 1,000+ trained educators delivering the national K-12 AI curriculum

Conditions for success

  • Mandatory national K-12 AI curriculum in place since 2025-26 to accompany the guide
  • Restricting approved tools to four named platforms (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude)
  • Age-gating (under-13/below Year 7) and exam-use prohibitions
  • Bans on uploading students' personal data to external AI services and on bypassing school cybersecurity controls

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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