The National Academy for Childhood Development (NACD) has launched enrollment for its Accredited Vocational Diploma in Childhood Development, and applications will be accepted until 10 May 2025.
Accredited by the National Qualifications Centre, the diploma course continues to draw strong interest for the third consecutive year. In the last two years alone, the academy has had over 13,000 applications, with just 200 candidates selected through a stringent selection process involving interviews and tests, leading to a highly competitive 1.5 per cent acceptance rate.
The program has seen rising demand from Emirati youth, with over 70 UAE Nationals registered to date. This is an indication of the increasing awareness of childhood development as a critical and promising career that helps in national development objectives.
The 18-month diploma aims to prepare a new generation of skilled caregivers with educational knowledge and practical skills to care for children from birth through 18 years of age. The curriculum gives a high priority to national identity and the Arabic language and is taught in two phases.
The initial phase provides 12 months of theoretical and practical training at the academy, organized around four central learning themes: I Grow, addressing children's physical, psychological, and social development; I Learn, facilitating early learning and developing children's learning capacity; I Can, designed to develop social and life skills in children; and Hence, I'm Proud, which develops national identity, Arabic language skills, and Emirati culture and values.
The second stage includes a six-month internship at prominent partner institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination (ZHO), Family Care Authority (FCA), and others. This internship provides students with opportunities to implement what they have learned in actual working environments.
The program is conducted fully in Arabic, affirming the central place of the Arabic language in the sector of child development, as well as its compatibility with the best international education standards. Each admitted student benefits from a complete scholarship and monthly stipend, allowing them to concentrate fully on their academic and professional growth.
Registration for the Academy's third cohort is now available through the Academy's website and the NAPO centralised digital platform. This comes after the graduation of 80 students, many of whom are poised to join top institutions in the UAE.
