UAE minister hails vision behind School Olympics

Dubai: Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, the UAE Minister of Education, has urged for a collective effort from one and all in the development of youth through education and sport in the country.

Delivering the keynote address at the closing session of the Peace and Sport Forum Dubai 2013, Al Qutami said: “We uphold the principles of peace by being a home to the cultures of the world. Lying at the root of this success is the vision of our leaders led by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. We cannot hope for peace without education and we cannot hope for education if there is no peace. And it is sport that is the common denominator for both.”

The UAE Ministry of Education is preparing for the launch of the second edition of its UAE School Olympic Games starting on Sunday [April 28] all over the country. The UAE School Olympic Games were launched with much fanfare last year under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC), following the country’s medal-less performance at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

“The goal of our UAE School Olympic Games is always to find new champions at an early age. Now that we have started off with these Games, we need to be patient as finding champions is really a long-term process,” Al Qutami noted.

“The inaugural edition last year drew a huge response from schools from the private and public sectors. This year, we are confident of doing even better as far as participation and involvement goes,” he added.

“Sport will always be the language of communication with one and all. It crosses all boundaries and can be understood irrespective of language, religion or ethnicity.”

The minister further called for a further bonding between like-minded federations and organisations to ensure success of developmental projects such as the UAE School Olympic Games. “It is important that all such bodies come to a common table of discussion and execution to ensure success of the projects. Maybe we do need more involvement of the private sector in the UAE, but we need to give this some time,” Al Qutami observed.

The minister also observed that youth need role models so that they can imitate and better their achievements. “And sportspersons are by far the best role models anywhere in the world,” he added. “A higher rate of education indicates stability in any society. We need to get this rate right between education and sport.”