Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) is seeking to continue its educational reforms within the emirate by incorporating more transparency across various sectors, it was revealed by Dr Mugheer Al Khaili, ADEC's Director General to Gulf News during the BFE MENA educational conference.
The conference, which ran alongside the BETT Middle East educational exhibition, concluded on Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). It was held under the theme of ‘Modernizing Education to Create Tomorrow's Workforce'.
"We are moving away from the traditional school system to one that is knowledge-based…and if we want to be up to international schooling standards, we must incorporate more transparency so that people are well informed about what is happening in the educational sector," Dr Al Khaili, said.
"This is one the methods we use to highlight our commitment to continuously enhancing the educational sector across the Emirate…we also ensure that all our decisions are being based on concrete data as we plan on making Abu Dhabi recognized as the number one educational system, first in the region and then internationally, because we believe that human capital is the key for a strong knowledge based economy and education is the method that will help us achieve that," he added.
Engineer Hamad Al Dhaheri, Director of Infrastructure and Facilities in ADEC also provided observations regarding a discussion that took place at the event, which stressed the need for stronger Public-Private School Partnerships to be developed across the region.
"I agree with it up to a point…we are constantly seeing improvement within both the public and private school sectors in the Emirate…however, while both sectors can benefit from each other's unique skills and resources, it is unclear whether this model is adaptable for the region…nevertheless, we must all continue to work together to enhance this important sector," he said.
Delegates such as Ahmad Al Bowardi, Secretary General to the Executive Council and Dr. Ahmad Gamal El-din Moussa, the Minister of Education in Egypt also provided insights into this year's BFE MENA and METT Middle East 2011.
"This is the first time I attend BFE and BETT, and came here because we are advancing technology and education in Egypt during the same time. I was very impressed with both events, and have learnt a great deal from some of the strategy plans laid out by the ADEC in efforts to reform education," Dr Moussa said.
"Both events are an important milestone in education for Abu Dhabi that I have personally learnt a great deal from, since Egypt is also in the process of reforming its technology across schools. Some of the leading education and technology institutes are displaying their latest services and products at BETT and BFE, all for the sake of offering quality education. ADEC is obviously investing a great deal of effort in reforming its educational system," he added.
