Video: New film reveals behind-the-scene stories of how Dubai schools coped with COVID-19

20-minute release by KHDA features insights by parents, students, teachers and officials

Last updated: February 12, 2022 | 13:00

2 MIN READ

New KHDA film on how Dubai schools coped with the COVID-19 pandemic

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Dubai: A new video series exploring behind-the-scenes stories of how Dubai’s schools came together during the COVID-19 pandemic has been released.

Featuring parents, students, teachers and government officials, the film, titled ‘Education through the pandemic – Dubai’s Story’ offers rare insights into how different members of the community responded to the outbreak, and how they came together to ensure the continuity of children’s education.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said: “Our education community has been through a lot in a short time. We made this documentary to give an opportunity for teachers, leaders, parents and students to tell their stories, and to acknowledge the commitment that members of Dubai’s educational community have shown to ensuring everyone’s wellbeing as well as to safeguarding the sector. This documentary gives us the space to reflect on an event that has undoubtedly brought us closer and made us stronger.”

The 20-minute documentary chronicles events starting from the time when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported and countries across the world started going into lockdown.

A trailer of the film tweeted by Government of Dubai Media Office on Saturday shows that the documentary will be aired on Sunday on Dubai One at 9pm.

Testimonies

Through testimonies from parents, students and teachers, the documentary reflects on how Dubai’s private schools first transitioned to distance learning. Team members from KHDA also look back on how Dubai residents and businesses supported each other in the early days of the pandemic. At that time, KHDA received more than 2,000 e-mails and phone calls, and over 12,000 messages on social media.

As the school sector transitioned from one academic year to another, the film gives a behind-the-scenes perspective on how health and safety protocols for schools were developed with other Dubai Government teams.

The documentary rounds off with a look at how the pandemic changed expectations of education in Dubai, and what the future of education in Dubai might look like.