The fourth Arab Gulf Education Forum has been
launched yesterday morning under the theme "STREAM Education in the
Emirati School". In its fourth session, the Forum includes 370
training workshops delivered by 90 trainers, targeting 8,800 teachers from
various schools throughout the United Arab emirates. The Forum will last for 5
days at Teachers’ Training Institute, Ajman.
His Excellency Dr. Hussain Al Hammadi, UAE Minister of
Education, His Excellency Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chief
of Police and Public Security in Dubai, and HE Dr. Saeed Musabih Al Kaabi, President
of the Sharjah Education Council, have attended the events of the Forum,
accompanied by education experts and knowledge leaders, as well as a large
number of audience that is interested in education, like international
knowledge leaders, as well as students.
In addition to teachers of the public schools, the
Forum is aimed at teachers in public schools, including both reserve and
volunteer teachers related to the “Teach for UAE” initiative, school principals
and teachers in general in the GCC countries.
The Forum represents a significant important training
platform for teachers. It is held to carry out a series of five-day training
workshops and the best international programs with the participation of 25
partners of different organizations and institutions. The workshops will be
divided into two groups. The first will include 250 training workshops at the
Ajman Teacher Training Institute and 120 training workshops at The Higher
Colleges of Technology – Women’s Campus, Khalifa city, delivered by 90
trainers, with the number of volunteers in the Forum reaching 70 volunteers.
The aim of the Forum this year is to achieve a
pioneering educational experience in the UAE's STREAM education approach and to
enhance the role of educational policies to support the STREAM approach to
education. It is one of the most important objectives of the Forum to promote
the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among Emirati schoolchildren,
and to boost the STREAM-based community partnership to prepare the Emirati
generations for the era of knowledge economy.
The Forum contributes to achieving the goals of
linking STREAM schools with universities and the labor market, which in turn will
boost research and innovation capabilities of teachers in view of the
significance of these skills in order to inspire a generation fully ready for the
future.
The Arab Gulf Education Forum will address several key
themes, including: education leaders and their role in promoting STREAM
education in educational institutes, as STREAM education is considered a key to
sustainable leadership in the age of the 4th industrial revolution,
and the role of STREAM education in providing true inspiration to the next
generation of Emirati scientists and engineers, and the strategies of
integrating different learning subjects within the STREAM curriculum, as well
as the track of innovative STREAM education approaches, and how we can promote
student participation through creative practices.
The Forum will feature keynote speakers and training
workshops on STREAM best practices as well as educational exhibitions by eight
exhibitors. A STREAM consulting hall will be allocated under the theme “Ask
Me”. This will include the presence of 12 STREAM creative schools, the discussion
of the future of the STREAM application in the classroom, as well as the holding
of MOE TALKS during the Forum.
At the launch of the Arab Gulf Education Forum, HE Hussain
Al Hammadi and HE Dhahi Khalfan Tamim visited STREAM Schools Exhibition held to
showcase the achievements of schools participating in the STREAM initiative to
measure students 'skills during the first phase of the project, and the
students' achievements and their performance and encourage students to further
enhance their skills, and to acquire knowledge as leading and global students.
HE Hussain Al Hammadi and HE Dhahi Khalfan Tamim also visited
a number of specialized workshops held within the Arab Gulf Education Forum,
and praised the good organization and quality of the workshops and their
importance in enhancing the skills of teachers and enriching their experiences
as an important step towards the development of education.
HE Hussain Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, stressed
the importance of the Arab Gulf Education Forum as it has become a landmark
event in which the pioneers of knowledge and education experts from
international countries can share their experiences for the benefit of teachers
of the schools of the United Arab Emirates.
His Excellency said that the ministry's training and
professional development system is based on a set of basic principles that
recognize the teacher as the most important pillar of the development process
and one of the leaders of modernization process and the transformation that we
seek for our educational process, stressing that the ministry is always looking
for new roles in which the teacher participates in decision making and
educational planning processes. He added that the professional development is
the cornerstone of comprehensive development processes and is also the basis
for empowering the teachers with the tools, techniques and keys for continuous
development.
His Excellency added that to
instil a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the students of primary
education schools and to provide a specialized environment that embraces
students' initiatives in innovative aspects is one of the most important
requirements of STREAM education. Therefore, the Forum in its fourth session
presents practical applications dedicated for providing the training in the
management of innovative projects in the field of STREAM education, which in
turn can be changed into a marketing product which can be presented to interested
sponsors at the local and international levels.
His Excellency pointed out
that the Forum addresses the most important strategies and experiences of
STREAM education, in order to raise awareness of educational institutions,
adding that the Forum presents examples, strategies and best practices that
prove the existence of successful cooperation in the integration of learning
subjects in the STREAM approach, pointing out that there are a range of
practical applications in STREAM education, which will enhance creative
thinking and active participation of students.
His Excellency added that during
the Forum, there will be an important track that focuses on STREAM education
and its role in the era of globalization and community partnership to stimulate
public-private partnership and to form research and innovation communities in
the era of the 4th industrial revolution.
He pointed out that the track
titled "From public education to universities to the labor market” is the central element of the Forum. It is
intended to develop the framework for the schools that are based on the STREAM
education approach. This is in addition to presenting global experiences that
achieved success in linking the STEM schools with universities and the labor
market, and to show their impact on raising the level of demand by the students
of STEM specializations, and to meet the needs of the labor market.