Assessment project of 111 UAE UNESCO Associated Schools to identify the efficient schools
United Arab Emirates National Commission for Education, Culture and Science sets a three-week period for registration
- The United Arab Emirates National Commission for Education, Culture and Science calls upon the society to establish UNESCO-affiliated clubs.
- The clubs are meant to undertake the various activities and programs and spread the awareness of UNESCO values.
The United Arab Emirates National Commission for Education, Culture and Science declared the launching of an assessment project that targets 111 UAE UNESCO Associated Schools in preparation for identifying the effective schools complying with the set of terms and criteria that serve UNESCO objectives to pave the way to a comprehensive assessment by a competent committee of UNESCO by the end of this year.
The Commission invited the schools to take the initiative of registering for carrying out a comprehensive survey to identify the efficient and inefficient schools and for updating the relevant information. The Commission set a three-week period for registration, where the schools which failed to register for assessment will be excluded starting from this 10th of July.
The Commission declared that schools may register via: Natcom.gov.ae. The Commission advised the registrars to follow these steps: click the “Register” icon, select “School” account and fill out the application and directed the registrars to contact the Commission via this e-mail address: Uaenc.4unesco@moe.gov.ae if they cannot complete these steps.
Schools will be assessed in accordance with a set of UNESCO criteria of school evaluation, including Inclusive Education, Cultural Education and Sustainable Development. This year will witness the convocation of two meetings which will be directed to declaring the UNESCO focal points and mechanisms.
The Commission stressed that it is authorized to achieve efficient communication between UNESCO and the UNESCO Associated Schools, since acting as the bond between both lies in the heart of its authorizations ensuring the effective and efficient performance.
The Commission called upon the UAE educational, civil society and private sector institutions to pay attention to the clubs which serve the members of society. The clubs affiliated to UNESCO play pivotal and societal roles. The clubs affiliated to UNESCO are unprofitable legal entities which are financially-independent from UNESCO. They aim at understanding and supporting the programs, spreading the values, carrying out the values-inspired activities and extending the cultural horizons of UNESCO.
The Commission referred to that it looks forward to relating the clubs activities to the UAE vision 2021 and the UAE developmental plans of the education, culture, science and communication sector, the matter which will lead to positive results that will contribute to achieving the national goals and strategic objectives.
The clubs affiliated to UNESCO are divided into 3 categories: school- and educational institute-based clubs whose members are mostly students and teachers, higher education institutions and high educational institutes clubs whose members are the university students and teaching staff and broad range membership whose members belong to the leaders of the cultural and societal service institutions.
For more details, the Commission explained that the UNESCO Associated Schools Program is a global network of the educational institutions, amounting currently to 10,000 institutions in 181 countries, including kindergartens, primary schools and teacher training institutes. These schools work on the application of quality education and disseminating the global issues at the institutional level.
The Commission declared that the project of the UNESCO Associated Schools is based on a set of basic principles: dissemination of concepts of democracy and equality among students, building of students' capacities for discussion, dialogue and expressing opinion and emphasis on freedom of expression and national belonging.
The Commission added that the UNESCO Associated Schools are committed to promoting the UN and UNESCO ideals through leading projects that aim at preparing the children and young people to effectively address the challenges in an increasingly complicated and interconnected world. This commitment is reflected in the UNESCO's Associated Schools’ mission.
The UAE Commission stated that it is committed to achieving its goals and plans, especially those concerned with UAE schools. The Commission pursues to build a highly efficient and organized network that combines the UNESCO's Associated Schools. Therefore, the Commission prepared a concept memo to serve as the basis of the organized and effective work of the Associated Schools network created by the UNESCO.
The Commission referred to that the UNESCO's Associated Schools-specific objectives are: education integration for international citizenship, education for sustainable development in learning and education, experimentation of the creative aspects to achieve integration, strengthening the exchange of information, experiences and leading practices in the network schools.
The Commission stated that there are medium-term objectives in accordance with the UNESCO's medium-term strategy (2014-2021). These objectives can be summarized in the following: UNESCO associated schools must basically take part in achieving the strategic goal which is enabling learners to become global and creative citizens based on the development of knowledge, values and skills related to peace, human rights, and other UNESCO and UN priorities.
10/07/2017