Dewa concludes inclusive education programme

Dubai / WAM

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), concluded its Inclusive Education for Dewa Academy staff, in partnership with the American University in Dubai (AUD). The move follows the UAE’s inclusive education policy, which is accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).
Through the initiative, Dewa strives to qualify its academicians and staff for inclusive
education, as per the governmental requirements as well as the best national and international practices. This provides students who are People of Determination (POD), with equal education opportunities according to the available majors at the academy and Dewa’s admission procedures.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, said, “One of our prominent achievements in including and empowering People of Determination is equipping buildings and facilities according to the Dubai Universal Design Code. Dewa also employs 27 People of Determination in seven divisions. It has graduated and employed an engineer from POD for a non-supervisory role in addition to an undergraduate student.”
DEWA’s staff includes more than 2,600 employees trained in etiquette for dealing with POD and 22 employees hold a sign language diploma.”

“This training programme for DEWA Academy’s staff builds on previous measures in qualifying the academic and administrative staff of the academy. Earlier this year, DEWA provided special training in inclusive education for the faculty members and administration, in partnership with KHDA. DEWA also trained its academic staff on dealing with POD. The training programme included several educational deliverables on the basics of special education, classroom requirements for inclusive education, essential skills of teachers in inclusive education, basics of effective teaching for POD, designing and implementing individual plans for such students, in addition to the mental development of all,” said Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA.

“AUD’s contribution to the economic and societal development is a key pillar of its mission. Supporting DEWA’s inclusive hiring strategy is one of the projects that keep us on target in terms of societal development, and puts us in direct touch with the resulting impact,” said Dr. David Schmidt, President of the American University in Dubai.

“There is always a great sense of societal achievement with every executive programme that we deliver to different organisations in the public and private sectors. However, what we have done with DEWA Academy to assist their teachers in dealing with students who are POD is unique and shall be cherished,” said Dr. Hassan Zeineddine, Director of Executive Programmes at AUD.