Culture & Education | Wednesday 2 March, 2016 10:15 am |

Around 200 delegates from across the globe assembled today (Tuesday, 1st March) in Abu Dhabi for the ‘Schools Now! Conference’ organised by British Council’s Partner Schools Network (PSN), a global network of schools, under the theme ‘Empowering Leaders, Teachers and Students’.

 

The inaugural day highlighted the widening gap between academic knowledge and workplace skills valued by employers. The conference debated how changing work requirements and evolving ideas have altered the workplace, sometimes rendering current schooling irrelevant and of not much use. 

 

The conference threw light on the education sector’s ability to cope with future workplace requirements, and whether teachers are ready to meet the future requirements.

 

The event offered a unique opportunity to engage with global school leaders on the pressing issues facing the international education community today and likely to face in the future.

 

“Today’s conference brought together educationalist, policy makers and school leaders in one forum to share insight, best practice and talk about common issues that are impacting education globally. The ambition of the conference is that the issues and challenges presented here can offer solutions through shared working and partnership in the British Council’s Partner School’s network, part of the British Council’s Global Education Dialogue Series,” said Adrian Chadwick, Regional Director MENA, British Council.

 

The opening session was attended by HE Hamad Al Dhaheri, Executive Director of Private Schools and Quality Assurance, Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, CEO, Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), Afghanistan and Marc Jessel, Country Director, British Council, UAE. 

 

Al Dhaheri said: “The Abu Dhabi Government and rulers consider education first and the main drive for the economic development. ADEC developed its strategy from the Abu Dhabi government’s ambitious plan to elevate the level of education further, while fulfilling an ambitious goal of becoming a world class leader in education, which has been reflected in the improved results the Emirate has witnessed in the PISA and TIMSS tests.”

 

Al Dhaheri noted that the private school sector currently caters to a large proportion of students with more than 70 percent attending private schools across 15 different curricula schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

 

Al Dhaheri explained the importance of partnering with different private schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to ensure overall progression and improvement across schools, which has been further enhanced thanks to the inspection process in place for private schools that has proven to help raise the quality of education in private schools.

 

“I strongly believe that the UAE is doing a great job in education, especially by bringing innovation into education, as innovation contributes to nation building. The UAE is promoting education, empowering women and working with youth groups. I am delighted to be here to share the success of the Afghani women who have been struggling their whole lives and they are significantly progressing through learning,” added Dr. Yacoobi. 

 

On the last plenary of the day, Mr Fadi A Khalek, VP Strategic Partnerships and Efficacy, Pearson, Mr Ammar Al Attiyat, Education Technology Lead, Microsoft Middle East and Africa and Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq, CEO Roots Millennium Schools, Pakistan assembled in a plenary entitled ‘Hope or Hype’. This session has focused on deploying the latest technology in learning and explored ways on how to maximise its efficacy.

 

The conference agenda featured keynote speeches, plenary papers, panel discussions and short paper presentations. The 3 Plenary sessions of day one were “Schools Now! Empowering leaders, teachers and students”, “Mind the (skills) Gap – are Schools fit for purpose in the new world?” and “Hope or Hype? – Rethinking technology and new models of delivery in schools.

 

Among the participants are global leaders and experts from the British Council offices from across the globe, as well as prestigious international organisations such as Pearson, Cambridge International Examinations, UK; Royal Society of Arts (RSA), UK; Presidium Group of Institutions, India; HSBC Bank Middle East Limited plus many others. Local entities from the UAE are also taking part in the event, including Taaleem, UAE; Emirates Nationals Development Programme (ENDP); INJAZ – UAE and Heriot-Watt University Dubai.