Energy & Engineering to be included in Schools' Curriculums-
Cooperation Pact Signed by Moe, Adec & Masdar
Lama Owais
The Ministry of Education decided to include new studies in Sciences, Engineering and renewable energy in the schools'
curriculum as part of the memorandum of understanding "MOU" which was signed today by the Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi Education Council "ADEC" and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company “Masdar”. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Humaid Mohamed Al Qattami, Minister of Education, Dr. Mugheer Al Khiaely, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council and Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Executive Director Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company "Masdar". The agreement enables educators to compose and include the required topics in order to encourage students connect their life with practical sciences.
His Excellency Humaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education said: “The memorandum of understanding represents a transitional point in students’ practical lives since it provides them with new opportunities to gain advanced knowledge skills that coincide with the sustainable development and growth in the UAE”.
His Excellency assured that connecting students with real practical life subjects are the best models of advanced education systems. The UAE witnessed accomplishments in several fields and encourage students to broaden their scientific knowledge and expand their education to include science, engineering and renewable energy.
His Excellency the Minister of Education lauded the support of His Highness Sheikh Khelifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and their Highnesses Members of the Supreme Council and Rulers of the other Emirates in addition to the continuous following up of His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and UAE leaders to the education field to enable students be active members of the society and the cornerstone of the education process. His Excellency Humaid Al Qattami emphasized that the Ministry is about to enhance its partnerships with government and private organizations to benefit from their experiences and capabilities in creating an interactive educational environment that urges students to benefit from sciences and important majors that are related to the development and progress and needs of the labour market.
His Excellency lauded the efforts of Abu Dhabi Education Council and its interests in taking into consideration the development constituents in preparing the future generations and also thanked Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) for their efforts in the development process reassuring that the Memorandum of Understanding represents a fruitful cooperation for the three societal partners and has broad positive impacts on the education field. As agreed upon between the three parties, the memorandum of understanding states that necessity of creating mechanisms and advanced procedures to develop curriculums for the purpose of promoting science and engineering subjects in schools. “Masdar” shall provide resources and required experiences to prepare the requested educational materials in these subjects with basic emphasis on sustainable and renewable energy.
The agreement was also attended by Rashid Salem Lakhraibani Al Nuaimi, Director General of the Ministry, Youssef Al Shuriaan, Executive Director for Educational Affairs, Ali Maihad Al Suwaidi, Executive Director for Institutional & Supporting Services, Amina Al Maraan-Director of Institutional Excellence Department at the Ministry.
The agreement also includes training opportunities for teachers to provide the best educational practices and develop sciences and sustainable education. In addition, Masdar Institute for Sciences & Tecnology “MI” that has been lately developed in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute for Sciences & Technology “MIT” shall provide support training courses, workshops and individual training. A group of researchers and teachers in Masdar Institute for Sciences & Technology will be the main resource for the teachers.
The cooperation pact also includes the supervision, development and execution of Madar Science Youth Exhibition organized by Masdar to encourage the younger generations to study sustainable sciences from KG-12. Hence, schools shall be provided with the details of the exhibition program and guidelines in addition to competitions in the same field. The competition will be judged by a committee which comprises a group of well recognized academia and scientific practitioners. The winners will have the opportunities to be hononoured in “Zayed Award for Future Energy” from 2011.
Meanwhile, Masdar will organize a number of seminars at schools to discuss the project and principals of the researches. All the seminars will be designed according to the ages and knowledge standards of students through the participation of research assistants and post-graduate students in Masdar Institute for Sciences & Technology “MI”.