His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education, chaired the first meeting held by the National Committee of Scholarship Coordination in 2017 at the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Abu Dhabi. The meeting was attended by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al-Mualla, MOE Undersecretary for Higher Education Academic Affairs, Dr. Samer Al-Samahi, Samer Asmahi, Assistant Undersecretary for Development and Planning, Saif Mohammed Rahma Al Shamsi, Deputy Director General of the Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority and His Excellency Professor Ghaleb Al Hadrami, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies in the UAE University. The meeting was also attended by His Excellency Mohammed Bin Juma Al Tunaiji, Director of Human Resources Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, His Excellency Fahd Butti Bin Byat, Director of the Department of Human Resources in the Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant Colonel Rashed Said Bin Shahin, Ministry of Interior, Dr. Ali Ghanem Al Ari, Director of External Scholarships in the Scholarships Office at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Asmaa Awad Al-Menhali Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, UAE University, Ghannam Al Mazrouei, Director of Human Resources Department and Administrative Affairs in ADNOC, Hessa Al Hajeri, Director of the Resources and Scholarships Department, ADNOC and May Al Wazzan, Director of Ghurair Program for Science and Technology Students at Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.
The meeting discussed the means and mechanisms of the scholarship programs which are developed by the MOE annually, to ensure the development and raise the efficiency of the national human resources as a step towards establishing the cognitive economy.
HE Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi highlighted that the scholarship programs have undergone certain improvements and radical changes concerning the standards and conditions for admission and the quality of university and academic programs joined by the students to proceed with their university education. Such improvements and changes are meant to produce qualified human cadres to steer development and change.
HE Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi stated that the MOE established clear objectives regarding the MOE’s scholarship policies and philosophy, emphasizing on quality rather than quantity when it comes to the students number. He also stated that MOE is keen to furnish the grounds and afford the requirements of the student’s excellence and success, so as to achieve the state objectives of going forward in the knowledge-based economy era.
HE Dr. Al Falasi clarified that training our human cadres to meet the present and future work market requirements forms the main MOE’s drive for selecting the university and academic programs, joined by our students to contribute to the wise leadership’s vision for maintaining the excellence and pioneering approach in the various vital sectors and fields in the state.
The meeting reviewed raising the scholarship standards, focusing on the 200 best international universities, setting Emirates Standardized Test (EmSAT) to assess the students’ potentials and the initial results of the students who received scholarship approval for 2017.
The meeting focused on the most important measures that should be followed by the scholarship students for selecting their universities before travelling to their scholarship destinations, such as applying for the report on educational program and attending the instruction day organized by the MOE to guide them into the academic aspects.
Furthermore, the meeting discussed linking the scholarship students’ information project through updating the national database of the state scholarship and mission system, and coordinating with MOE to develop specific systems, policies and mechanisms, to help students in following up scholarship destinations, particularly alumni recruitment based on their professional performance and skills. The meeting also researched how to link the scholarship destinations onto one platform through which the scholarship applications can be made, to ease the identification of the entity applied to by the candidate and to avoid application redundancy. This platform also intends to make certain information, such as specializations requirements, easily accessible by the scholarship destinations and to publish the distinguished researches and studies.
09/08/2017