Dubai: A proposal to have a Regional Smart Learning Centre in the UAE was revealed on Monday at the Smart Learning Forum in Dubai.
The three-day forum, which was launched yesterday, aims to provide a platform where knowledge and expertise in the field of smart and sustainable cities can be exchanged between countries.
Ebrahim Hadad, Director of the Arab Regional Office of ITU, which is part of the United Nations system, said the centre aims to train and share experiences with educational bodies and individuals from Arab countries who want to adopt smart learning in their countries.
Hadad said the training will be based on the UAE’s experience and expertise in smart learning with the partnership of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme.
“Arab countries don’t have to start from zero, they can learn from the UAE experience. The centre aims to support Arab countries in their smart learning adoption through capacity building, we will concentrate on teachers and see how we can upgrade their skills,” he said.
Hadad said the centre aims to look at how UAE’s smart learning initiative can be transferred to other countries, however, affordability and accessibility is something to consider first because not all Arab countries have the needed infrastructure or funds.
Plans for launching the centre which can possible be a virtual one, Hadad revealed, are still in their initial drafting phase. He added that any activity by the smart learning centres will have to address smart sustainable development, which is a UN requirement.
The UAE has had many notable advancement in smart learning after His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Mohammad Bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme.
Mohammad Al Gheyath, director general of the programme, shared the progress of the programme during his key note speech at the forum.
Al Gheyath said the smart learning programme has been implemented on 50 per cent of the UAE’s 423 public schools.
Al Gheyath said the programme will be implemented in all UAE public schools by 2018.
He said the UAE aims to be a front-runner in the smart education and to achieve this it implemented a three-stage strategy, which began with introducing the tools in the first stage, training the teachers and students on how to use these tools in the second and ensuring continuity in the final stage.
Al Gheyath said this year, a total of 283 schools have been transformed to smart schools, which include 1,760 classes, 6,349 teachers and 34,513 students.
By 2018 all 423 schools will be transformed, this includes 7,606 classes, 12,320 teachers and 121,205 students, he said.
The forum was organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UAE Ministry of Education, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme, and the Arab League Educational Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALESCO).
