Culture & Education | Saturday 25 November, 2017 3:50 am |

The first edition of ‘Aqdar World Summit’, launched two days ago in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, concluded on Thursday, featuring a number of serious discussions, deliberations and workshops, on the role of ‘Moral Education’ under the slogan, ‘Nourishing Minds, Flourishing Nations’.

The world summit hosted a number of key sessions by leaders, decision makers, experts and specialists in the field of education apart from a number of specialized educational companies catering to the needs of students and parents, to empower them with key knowledge skills and allowing them to engage in a constructive dialogue in order to build a world of security, tolerance, peace and coexistence.

According to organizers, the summit greatly helped in strengthening the role of the United Arab Emirates as a global model for the prevention of intellectual extremism and moral deviation among students in general and the youth in particular, while also ensuring that they are protected from the dangers of terrorism and violent extremism.

The summit, which attracted the heads of many states, senior government and private officials, of many institutions, offered a number of key recommendations and proposals which served the interests of students and youth while also playing a key role in providing intellectual and scientific resources accredited by many governments and related institutions.

 

 

The participants praised the efforts of the United Arab Emirates under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to promote tolerance, peace and security in the world and its keenness on joint international action to promote cohesion among different cultures, peoples and religions. The participants also praised the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in activating the curriculum of moral education in the United Arab Emirates schools and his remarkable role in promoting and spreading a culture of tolerance and principles of justice. The participants also thanked HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior for his patronage, support and constant follow-up, which had a prominent role in the success of Aqdar World Summit.

 In the conclusion of the summit, the recommendations were released and they included the need to provide scientific and intellectual references to moral education from a global perspective based on national identities to ensure their cohesion and integration, to be supported by governments and relevant institutions, emphasizing the shared responsibility of governmental and cultural institutions and those in private sectors to work to protect young people from moral deviations.

In the recommendations that were presented by Colonel Dr. Ibrahim Al-Dabal, General Coordinator of the Summit, called on the countries of the world to establish specialized national institutes and institutions that deal with extremism and behavioral delinquency in accordance with a scientific and educational approach based on the vision of the future to identify the ethical and moral factors that help face intellectual extremism, and to work in unity to protect youth through partnerships between governments and private sector institutions to address the challenges that face different parts of the world, as well as the important role of United Nations organizations UNESCO through its regional offices in the countries of the world.

They stressed on the importance of launching an online platform that brings together experts and specialists in moral education to provide their recommendations, advice, studies and opinions on strategies and programs in support of moral education as a starting point to combat social, political, economic and religious conflicts and launch an international competition entitled "Global Moral Education" that contains the necessary requirements for spreading the initiative of moral education amongst various institutions at the educational and social level.

They also called for the need to launch initiatives for positive dialogue around the world, to invest in humanitarian partnerships in promoting world peace, to cooperate and face challenges that have harmed ​ moral values ​​and contributed to family disintegration. They also recommended the development of scientific methodologies to promote "moral education" in the informal educational curricula and the summer activities and to study the extent to which they reflect on the attitudes of the students.

They also called for benefiting from publications of international institutions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, UNICEF, regional and national institutions and others in the preparation and development of moral education curricula, and encouraging the countries of the world to benefit from the unique experiences of some countries in the field of  moral education.

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan: Youth are the future of this country

The last day of the summit began with the main session of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance of the United Arab Emirates, who spoke on ‘Moral education and the promotion of a culture of tolerance in the UAE and Global Society’.

"We in the UAE are proud of our leadership's vision and the ability of our youth to fulfil their responsibilities in all fields as young people are the future of the country," he said.

“Tolerance and respect for others regardless of their beliefs requires adherence to moral values and developing the ability to accept others regardless of their different cultures and religions, and it also requires the consolidation of the principles of justice and equality and human rights and correct information and concepts of religions.” He added

He stressed that tolerance in the UAE is a key part of UAE’s Soft Power strategy, where there are clear concepts of tolerance in the nation through moral education which protects young people from being dragged into terrorism, pointing out that the awareness of the principles of Islam and the consolidation of good habits and cultures in young people is the protective fence from moral deviation and intellectual extremism.

He said that moral education develops the principles of integrity, generosity and responsibility. The ability to distinguish what is right or wrong, where there is a strong relationship between moral education and tolerance, stressing his pride in the initiative to introduce moral education in schools to empower future generations and prepare them for future challenges. He pointed out that moral education is linked to the characteristics and qualities of the UAE people, citing the qualities of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,  (may God have mercy upon him), the founding father of the United Arab Emirates

In conclusion, he thanked the patron of the summit, HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, and all participants in this conference for their interest and their efforts to make moral education a global curriculum and to come out with the recommendations that establish ethical values ​​among our youth and achieve desired aspirations.

On another note, the 8th session of the summit, included a speech by Dr. Abdullatif Al Shamsi, Director of Higher Colleges of Technology - United Arab Emirates, who spoke on ‘The Roles & Responsibilities of National Institutions, Civil Society and the Private Sector to Enhance Moral Education’.

In the same session, Prof. Dr. Nasr Arif, Advisor to the President, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates, spoke about the ‘Role of Civil Institutions to Promote Moral Education and its impact on Educational Curricula.

His Excellency Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Director General of Abu Dhabi Media Company of the United Arab Emirates, then addressed the ‘Role of Media Sector to Promote Moral Education (Principles and Responsibilities). 

 

Professor Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), spoke about ‘The Role of Research Institutes in the Development of Research Models on Moral Education and Measuring its Impact’.

 

The topic ‘The Role of Universities in the Development of Research Models on Moral Education and Measuring its various Effects’, was then addressed by Fatima Al Hammadi, Associate Director – Student Life of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates.

 

Apart from a number of sessions dedicated to promoting Moral Education, the summit also played host to a number of applications and pioneering experiments, including debates and courses through the presentation of many realistic models in Arab, regional and international countries, that greatly contributed to the promotion of moral education among young people.

 

In the afternoon, the 9th session of the Summit, was by Dr. Christian G Forstner, Director of Business Development, European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) who addressed the ‘Scope of Applications and Experiences, National and International Experiences in Promoting Moral Education’.

 

In another session, Staff Brigadier Mohammad Suhail Al Neyadi, Manager of Strategic Planning – National Service Armed Forces, United Arab Emirates, spoke about ‘United Arab Emirates Experience (National Service and Reserve Project).

 

Dr. Amr Osman, Assistant Minister of Social Solidarity, Director of the Addiction Treatment and Abuse Fund, Egypt, then delivered a speech on ‘Egypt’s Experience in Addressing Moral Deviation’.

 

During his speech, he referred to Egypt’s methodology of monitoring key challenges, including the danger of extremism among youth, violence in communities, drug abuse and discrimination against women among many other key issues.

 

Dr. Amr stressed that Egypt is tackling these challenges by prioritizing in dealing with key societal disadvantages, with special emphasis on the most important models and initiatives to empower Egyptian youth facing the threat of moral deviation.

 

He further mentioned that ‘Egypt’s experience in using the principle of social justice must be emphasized and developed in educational curriculums for greater impact’ while the role of professional counselling including NGO’s involvement in community services should be strengthened to rehabilitate offenders.

 

While reviewing the role of media in overcoming moral deviation, Dr. Amr stressed that religious and cultural awareness must be strengthened through the intensification of public and private information campaigns to counter the dangers of moral deviation among the younger generation while also attracting young men and women to volunteering, as it helps in creating a positive effect in combating such challenges.

 

Sheikha Munira Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Kingdom of Bahrain, then delivered a key speech on the experience of the kingdom’s pioneering project "Youth City 2030".

 

This was followed by a speech by David John Grey Wright, Director, UK Safer Internet Center in the United Kingdom, who presented Britain's experience in implementing the Safe Internet Center model.

General Dr. Nasser bin Visam al-Mutairi, of the Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia, then spoke about, ‘Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Experience to combat intellectual Extremism’.

 

He stressed that all countries in the world are currently facing a serious crisis in terms of overcoming the challenge of terrorism and in order to succeed in achieving such goals, the world community must be aware of the intellectual and cognitive factors behind the origins of the behavior of extremism.

 

While stating that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been successful in recognizing that important aspect, Dr. Nasser further added that they launched a number of projects in collaboration with many countries in the GCC and the wider Arab world in addition to many other nations of the world to confront the challenge of extremism and moral deviation including key security and legal measures and also attached great importance to the rehabilitation of convicts, in order to integrate them into our societies again.

 

While stating that efforts to tackle intellectual extremism and moral deviation should be integrated, he added that a continuous cooperation between different states to counter cross border intellectual extremism and terrorism and a new approach related to the involvement of communities in preventing young people from the dangers of extremism and deviation are crucial.

 

Last day workshops for specialists and professionals included key sessions by Dr. Christian Forstner, Director, Business Development, European Foundation for Quality Management EFQM, who addressed the role of excellence awards in promoting moral education in educational curricula.

 

In another session, Dr. Noura Al Balushi, Deputy head of the Islamic World Studies department at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, addressed the role of scholars and thinkers in promoting moral education.

 

Engineer Adel Alkaf Al Hashemi and Dr. Najla Mohammed Al Naqbi of the Emirates Internet Risk Protection Society of the United Arab Emirates spoke on the ‘Role of NGO’s in promoting moral education among students and guiding them to use Social Media via safe and secure methods’.

Abdelmunam Suleman Al Mushawa, President, Al Sakina Campaign to address extremism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, then spoke about ‘The Basics of moral education and religious values within the family’.

 

Another workshop on ‘Mechanisms to enable parents and teachers to develop reading skills among students and children’ was presented by Hend Mohamed Hussein Al Jowder, Deputy Director, Al Iman Schools – Kingdom of Bahrain, Wafa Naji Al Othma, Al Iman Schools – Kingdom of Bahrain and Walaa Nabil Mahmoud Gado, Al Iman Schools – Kingdom of Bahrain.

 

The closing workshop on the third and last day of the summit was on ‘The Role of parents in discovering and developing their children’s talents’ by Dr. Shafea Al Neyadi, Human Development and Family Relations Coach and Member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Association for Giftedness.