Dubai
The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) has launched a brand new initiative for Dubai schools, titled the ‘Hamdan Bin Mohammad Order of Merit for Sports Education School’ with an aim to nurture budding young sports talent.
Inspired by the Dubai Sports Strategy 2017-2021, the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Order of Merit is one of the initiatives to emerge from the Sports Innovation Lab, which was organised by the DSC in the presence of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of DSC.
Part of the ‘Happiness, Health and Community’ axis, the Order of Merit seeks to encourage Dubai’s public and private schools to achieve academic and sporting excellence. The initiative will support all their efforts in making sports a lifestyle at the community level.
The aim of the Order of Merit is to improve the general health and vitality of students; to promote healthy behaviours within school communities; to create a healthy, safe and sporting environment in schools; to develop sports services in schools; and to create the right environment for gifted young athletes to prosper and infuse them with the spirit of fair play.
Speaking on the occasion, Maryam Al Hammadi, a member of DSC’s Board and Chairman of DSC’s Development and Future Foresight Committee, said the Order of Merit is an initiative that is in line with the UAE Vision 2021 and is based on the directives of Shaikh Hamdan.
The evaluation will be based on four principal criteria: infrastructure, health education, sports practice and the efficiency and effectiveness of school management.
“This initiative is a great incentive for schools to sponsor sports activities, provide appropriate facilities and raise awareness about the importance of sport, which will give a boost to the health and vitality of their students. It also gives an opportunity for students to practice their favourite sport on appropriate forums,” Al Hammadi said.
“The vision of the Dubai Sports Council is to build a distinguished and happy sports community, and sports is one of the most important sources of happiness. Sports will provide the students with positive energy and hence, will contribute to the health and happiness of the community,” she added.
Sports education schools are platforms that constantly seek to improve and develop their sporting capacities by providing a favourable environment for the acquisition and development of skills; they meet their students’ needs for physical activity through the application of curricula and sports programs, thus enabling them to play an active role in the promotion of their students’ health and creating an atmosphere conducive to fair competition.
The Order of Merit is open to all public and private schools in Dubai, and the schools will be assessed as per the criteria of the Ministry of Education and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority of Dubai.
