Educational
leaders participating in Principals Symposium stated that the moral education
will reflect positively on the educational system, being a lifestyle for
students. His Excellency Hussain Al Hammadi promised His Highness Mohammed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of
the UAE Armed Forces that the effects of merging moral education into schools
will be noticed within one year. He stressed that the conclusions of the
reports issued by the experimental project of merging moral education into
schools are very satisfactory. He said that the course enhances sustainable
social responsibility in the school community, the matter which necessitates its
being considered a complementary course in all the curricula. Such conclusions
are drawn from the implementing of the experimental project across 19 schools over
the 2nd semester. The moral education Committee is currently centred on
studying the effect of teaching moral education at the schools where the
project was implemented starting from last January and the feedback of this
period was collected.
The
primary result of the field feedback is the remarkable change in the students’
behaviours and culture. It reflected on the increase of the percentage of
attendance and the improvement of the behaviours of the attendants in general
towards the teachers and colleagues.
The
results showed that teaching the school students the values and morals
eliminates the failure rate significantly and increases the academic skills and
capacities. They referred to that UAE seeks merging happiness as an integral
part of the government sector, the matter which is further encouraged by
teaching moral education. The school principals called upon focusing on drawing
up plans and strategies that support the moral and value system at schools.
This
speech was given in the Principals Symposium held in the framework of the moral
education initiative launched by His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Moreover,
the Ministry intends to develop plans that cover both the government as well as
private schools to enhance the best practices and agree upon a unified set of
concepts of the framework and standards of introducing the moral education
course to ensure its flexibility. Furthermore, those in charge of teaching the
course will have training courses to help them to create innovative methods to
attract students.
Building
character
In the opening of the Principals Symposium, HE Hussain Al
Hammadi explained that building character is not an easy mission, since it
needs time to develop the cognitive sense of students.
His Excellency said that the moral education course gives
students the ability to make decisions whatever the situations they face may
be. He drew the attendants’ attention to that the development of education has
a material as well as moral aspects shown in the formulation of the Emirati
School students’ value and behaviour system.
Regarding the course assessment tool, it would depend on
tracking the course effect on students and their way of thinking about the
various aspects of their life. He indicated that the moral education will
reflect positively on the education at the UAE, referring to that it is
considered a lifestyle. Teaching the course will be smooth, easy and simulating
of the important different aspects of the students’ characters.
He asserted that the moral education is the fruit of the
exceptional thinking of His Highness the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and is an
original knowledge- and value-based framework within our educational system.
In this context, Jameela Al Muhairi, Minister of State for
Public Education, highlighted the importance of the moral education
sustainability at schools and the importance of getting the parents to be a
part of the moral education process.
Plans
Moreover,
the Ministry intends to develop plans that cover both the government as well as
private schools to enhance the best practices and agree upon a unified set of
concepts of the framework and standards of introducing the moral education
course to ensure its flexibility. Furthermore, those in charge of teaching the
course will have training courses to help them to create innovative methods to
attract students.
She
underlined the importance of having an integrated moral education course with
the rest of courses. The best programs and practices will be considered to be
transmitted to the school community.
She
referred to that school supervision should rely on the standard of personal and
social development as the indicator of assessing the school practices.
Her
Excellency Ohood Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness, stated that
teaching students values and morals restricts the failure rate remarkably and
hones the academic skills and capacities.
100 days
She
spoke about her own experience in some UAE schools within the framework of the
100-day plan, referring to that the results revealed that the change of any
student’s negative behaviour takes not less than 21 days, showing that all the
schools covered in the experiment have undergone positive change.
She
indicated that it has been taken into account that the moral education course
should be without test, saying that assessment would rather depend on life
situations encountered by students to result in affecting their behaviours and
thinking and would center on project-based learning and serving others.
16/03/2017