"Government,
Academia and Industry need to work together on an unprecedented scale of
partnership and unity of purpose" – Dr. Amal Al-Qubaisi Abu Dhabi, 24th
August, 2015 (WAM) – With a gathering of over 1500 educators, school leaders
and university leaders, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) launched its
strategy for knowledge production at its annual Education Leaders Forum,
marking the start of the 2015-16 academic year.
Dr
Amal Al-Qubaisi, ADEC’s Director General, addressed the gathering by stressing
the importance of engaging the education leaders and school teachers in a
journey towards transformation.
"Through
your hard work and over the last five years, Abu Dhabi schools have made
significant progress at all levels of the education process. ADEC is keen on
having its school leaders and teachers develop the transformation strategy;
they are our experts and they are our thought leaders, and this strategy is
their work," she stressed.
In
2010, ADEC began deploying the Abu Dhabi School model, which focuses on 21st
century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, global citizenship,
applied knowledge and communication, in all schools in the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi, beginning with KG-Grade 3 and reaching Grade 8 this academic year. In
addition, ADEC placed a high priority on supporting the values, culture and
heritage of the UAE in close coordination with the Ministry of Education.
Recently, ADEC announced the complete restructuring of Cycle 3 (high school) in
public schools with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM), beginning this academic year.
"The
journey of transformation involves a massive focus on STEM and building a
sustained strong culture of education. Without scientific research, we cannot
achieve the full vision of a knowledge producing society. ADEC will even
transform KG children’s story books to include stories about science and
technology," said Dr. Al Qubaisi.
In
higher education, Abu Dhabi has witnessed the development of universities in
partnership with some of the world’s top universities as well as significant
progress in the development of UAE national universities.
"But
the world is not standing still. The race to the top is getting more and more
competitive. A holistic view encompassing all aspects of the education system
from P-12 to Post-Graduate Master’s and Doctoral Education, as well as on-hands
job market experience are all required," added Dr Al-Qubaisi.
Today,
the world is witnessing tremendous global shifts in science and technology.
From the Internet of Things, Smart Cities and Autonomous Cars, to Cognitive
Computing systems that can understand context, analyze and convert information
to knowledge, to developing custom DNA sequences for massive storage as
memories for computing systems; we are approaching the tipping point of a
revolution in science and technology. The impact on education systems will be
tremendous.
Yet
the national output in science and technology in key measures of knowledge
production, such as scientific publications, patents and technology start-ups
remains low. The proportion of university graduates, especially at the Masters
and PhD levels remains far below what is needed.
"Excellence
in education is about building a strong culture of education throughout
society, and this requires a critical partnership, the most important
partnership is a partnership with parents. Education systems that don’t
anticipate the future will miss the future," said Dr Al-Qubaisi.
Sustainable
economic prosperity requires a generation of innovators and entrepreneurs in
science and technology, and requires building a knowledge producing society
that competes on the world stage.
"Over
the last five years, we planted the seeds for transforming our education
system. Over the next five years we will transcend and reach new heights – we
will achieve the promise of a world class education system," said Dr
Al-Qubaisi.
The
launching of the ADEC strategy for knowledge production marks a call for the beginning
of a new era in Abu Dhabi education and scientific research. A call for
unprecedented partnership between government, education and industry, bringing
together the collective resources, energy, ideas, passion and resolve of the
education, government and industry sectors singularly focused on achieving a
common vision of a knowledge producing society, the vision of His Highness
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme
Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of ADEC.
"Our
job will not be easy, and we cannot be successful working alone, isolated from
our esteemed educators, students and parents, industry, businesses and
community around us. In fact to succeed in fulfilling the vision of our great
leadership, we need to partner with the community at large on a scale never
before attempted. Two hands is always greater than one," concluded Dr
Al-Qubaisi. –End-
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by: www.wam.ae
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