UAE joins global think-tank to boost education sector

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Microsoft has announced that the UAE will be the founding member of a global initiative called ‘Leading Countries of the World in Transforming Education’, a programme that will bring together trend-setting education ministries and high-level leaders from around the world, to collaborate on the future of learning.
UAE came up as anundisputed leader when Microsoft looked for regional trend-setters across the globe including ministries of education that had taken the most significant leaps while using technology to make classrooms more engaging for students.
UAE will join other selected countries, including Argentina and Finland, in shaping future approaches to education worldwide. Discussions during the programme will cover various elements of teaching: vision, administration, curricula, assessment and physical learning.
“Education sits at the heart of societal progress. It is the garden of our future economy, where we grow the next generation of engineers, doctors and teachers. What we do right now will determine how effective those professionals will be. We must equip our young people to be the leaders of tomorrow, and to do that we must continually look for ways to enhance their learning experiences,” said HE Marwan Ahmad Al Sawaleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education.
“UAE welcomes the opportunity to join Microsoft’s Leading Countries initiative as a founding member and share our success stories with our international partners. We are always appreciative of private sector companies that recognise, as we do, the importance of guiding our youth on a path to excellence,” he added.
In a letter of invitation to His Excellency Eng. Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education for the UAE, Microsoft called education “the single most important investment in the future… vital to sustainable social and economic success, and a fundamental human right”.
The letter made particular mention of the Mohammed bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme, under Director-General Mohammed Gheyath, which seeks to implement the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai – a classroom transformed by the latest devices and high-speed networks.
Samer Abu Ltaif, Regional General Manager, Microsoft Gulf, said, “It’s all too easy to recycle old ideas that have worked in the past, but at Microsoft we have never been interested in the status quo. We have our eyes consistently on the next horizon. And the UAE’s Ministry of Education has that in common with us. They are innovators and they understand the vital role technology can play in this
exciting evolution of the classroom.”