Abu Dhabi: The first batch of 133 students have graduated from Rabdan Academy of Abu Dhabi to take up jobs in policing, intelligence, criminal investigations, natural and man-made disasters and homeland security sectors.
The students received their certificates at a graduation ceremony at Emirates Palace hotel on Sunday. Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, presented the certificates to the graduates.
Students at the academy are trained and prepared in different programmes that include safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management sectors.
More than 500 fulltime students currently study at the academy. The academy aims to build a generation of UAE nationals who can execute any challenging assignment pertaining to homeland security.
Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the ceremony, James Anthony Morse, president of Rabdan Academy, said: “The idea is to prepare young people of the country for the challenges of the future. Not just training them for today, but for the coming four to five years when they have to take charge in intelligence, police and security sectors of the country. So educating young generation is key.”
He added: “Our programmes cover policing, security, emergency management, business continuity, a new programme - homeland security - and the master’s-degree-level programmes in intelligence analysis.”
The batch includes the first two Emirati female graduates to receive the certificate from the academy in crime scene investigations.
Sana Abdullah Salem, 33, who completed a two-year diploma in crime scene, said: “I am the first local [Emirati] woman who completed this course from the academy and I feel very honoured. We were taught how to collect, protect and investigate the criminal evidences, which include pictures and fingerprints. For that we have to carry out investigations in the field,” Salem said.
Another Emirati woman, Aysha Al Baloushi, who also did her diploma in crime scene, said: “Completing this course with excellence is an honour for me. We are trained in-house and in the field.”
The programmes, in which the students graduated on Sunday, include integrated emergency management (how to work in case of natural and man-made disasters), business continuity management, and comprehensive police station management.
“We have a new master’s programme in intelligence analysis and at the bachelor level, homeland security. We are really looking across homeland security issues, which require the government and the private sectors to work together to keep the nation secure,” Morse said.
A graduate in the integrated emergency management, Mohammad Al Mazrouei, 28, said: “My course is about natural and made-made disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and [man-made disasters] terrorism, war and human failures. We are trained about promptly and effectively responding to any disasters whether it’s natural or made-made.”
Al Mazrouei aims to continue his masters in the same field at the academy.
Rabdan Academy
It is a government-owned educational institution established to coordinate and enhance learning outcomes for organisations and individuals in the safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management sectors. The academy was officially established under Law No. 7 for 2013, issued by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. It is accredited by the UAE’s Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
