The UAE yesterday announced the launch of the biggest e-learning platform in the world and in reaching this milestone, has shown how a systematic pursuit of transformational national objectives, in this case, education, learning and knowledge harvesting, can lead to path-breaking developments for global good.
Announced yesterday by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the e-learning site, www.madrasa.org, will by this year’s end, provide free online educational material to more than 50 million students in the Arab world between Kindergarten and Grade 12. The e-learning project aims to engineer a renaissance of education in the Arab world, with the knowledge portal supporting academic pursuits in physics, chemistry, biology, general sciences and mathematics, all of which are critical requirements for every country wanting to enrich its intellectual treasuries. This material is now accessible to every student in the world for free through the Madrasa website.
This outcome, towards which the UAE prepared extensive ground by the way of the translation challenge launched by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Arabic eLearning Project in 2017, reaffirms the UAE’s role in spreading the power of education. The overwhelming response to the call for translation volunteers, from a swathe of countries including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, set the momentum for the birth of Madrasa and its fruition today. The importance of translating knowledge for the benefit of others has been the mainstay of progress. The exchange of ideas and information has been the driving force for the growth of civilisations and the Islamic Golden Age — which brought to the world impeccably translated works from various cultures — is a gilded chapter in history. The Arabic translation movement of the 8th-14th centuries made way for an intellectual and scientific renaissance whose advantages are being enjoyed by mankind even today. Madrasa is renewing that legacy and bringing within the reach of young Arab generations access to information that will empower them to rise to their fullest potential. The many riches of high-quality subject material the portal offers have opened the doors to an exciting new world of learning.
The UAE needs to be proud of this achievement as it will play a seminal role in shaping tomorrow’s generations of Arab scientists, researchers, thinkers and influencers, forces that are critical to ushering in a brighter future. As the world moves into an increasingly challenging era that calls for unconventional solutions and uncompromising innovation, what will fortify it to meet these demands is the unhindered availability of knowledge sources. The UAE is making sure this privilege is in place for the coming generations.
