Dubai: Gulf News and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) signed a 16-week initiative on Tuesday that will allow young people from 16 schools to report, write, design and produce their own news page.
Each week will feature a page by the student editorial team of a selected school, which will be published by the newspaper.
Along with the print exercise, the initiative will focus on digital platforms, especially social channels to connect with students, their views and voices.
Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Gulf News Editor-in-Chief and Executive Director Publications, said: “We at Gulf News are always interested in future readers and that is why we had launched ‘Notes’ and ‘Fun Day’ supplements. This initiative fits very well with our vision for future of journalism and the challenges that traditional media faces.”
“If our Prime Minister, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum [Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai], uses Twitter to announce his new government or cabinet, then we as a newspaper are behind [in print] ... We need to catch up. How do we do that? We have to use technology, whether it is social media or something else. We need to be there. We need to put our experience, as the media, the experience of teachers and then ask the children for their opinion and develop on it.”
Dr Abdullah Al Karam, director-general of the KHDA, agreed. “We are very glad today to partner with Gulf News and the private schools in Dubai to get students more involved and engaged with news, especially with Gulf News, where they will be writing on a weekly basis, and also be giving their comments and reviews.
“This initiative is to engage the children more in today’s stories and the way of writing, reading, participating and commenting on that.”
Each week, after publication, the page will be put up on the Gulf News Facebook page as part of an album, which will be opened for voting.
At the end of the 16 weeks, the page with the most votes will be crowned winner, while all participating schools will be felicitated.
Mohammed Almezel, Managing Editor of Gulf News, said that this was just the beginning of further developing the newspaper’s engagement in education and with students. “After this, we will work on something bigger,” he added.
The drive is to get more young people involved in how content is shaped and focused, to reflect the changing times.
On Tuesday, senior representatives of the KHDA and principals from five schools visited the main Gulf News office in Dubai to announce the initiative.
Rajeev Khanna, Commercial Director, Gulf News, said: “As a leading and responsible media house in the region, we [Gulf News] are morally obliged to contribute towards all-round youth development. I believe that by using our very credible and far-reaching multiple broadcast channels, we can present the views and voice of the youth and reach out to the wider world, thereby not only encouraging their confidence and thought process, but making them an inclusive part of the present and the future.
“The voice of the youth deserves to be heard and addressed. I am of the opinion that we are going to discover some wonderful surprises as this competition unfolds. Our readers, both online and print, are in for a treat.
“I am very pleased that this collaboration with Gulf News and KHDA is turning out to be an excellent cross-over in line with the fundamental thought process of UAE as articulated often by its dynamic leadership, that is the Year of Reading [2016] and the Year of Giving [2017].”
Dr Ashok Kumar, CEO of Indian High School, Dubai, said that the initiative “will sensitise the young generation — they will come to know more about the media profession, and also they will be very happy to contribute their thoughts, and they will get a platform for their creativity”.
Richard Drew, principal of Jumeira Baccalaureate School, Dubai, felt that particularly students at his school “will be very interested in getting involved in expressing their views and opinions. They do that anyways within school but to have that platform across Dubai and across the UAE will be fantastic”.
Nargish Khambatta, principal of GEMS Modern Academy, Dubai, said: “The most exciting bit for me is our students will really get a voice. Many people mistakenly think students are only involved in the glitzy stuff and they aren’t capable of deep thinking. I think this initiative will give exactly that opportunity to students, where they can express their views and be heard.”
How to be a part of this?
This initiative can be supported by sponsoring Gulf News subscriptions by schools and universities across the country. Gulf News will match every subscription sponsored through this programme. To support the initiative, readers can call 8004585 or 044067170, or email ndevadia@gulfnews.com.
