Role of teamwork in education stressed

Developing the educational environment with comprehensive complementary teamwork is a must to nurture our students and enable them gear up to face the future, said His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

He was speaking at the Seventh Sharjah Award for Educational Distinction ceremony, which honoured the high achievers.

Dr Sheikh Sultan awarded the 167 male students and support staff on Sunday, while Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler and Chairperson of the Sharjah Supreme Family Council, presented the awards to 194 girls and female staff yesterday.

"Our sons and daughters are the future of the country," Dr Sheikh Sultan noted. "We should all work to provide them with the best right from the first interface of the educational process - the school."

He said each of the teachers' and support staff's work in the educational process complements the other's, and that the educational process is the result of such comprehensive and complementary efforts. Hence the essence of teamwork should be fostered to help our students achieve more distinction.

Believing in the complementary role and realising the importance of each level's role in contributing to the development of the educational process, the award categories included best students, teachers, schools, projects and supervisors, and the Educational Zone's best employees, added Dr Sheikh Sultan.

Sheikha Aisha bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Deputy Director, Sharjah Educational Zone, said yesterday it is essential to create a competitive atmosphere in schools and among the zone's employees for developing the educational process, and enhancing teamwork and individual creativity.

"The award helped create the necessary competition in the educational process, and the consequent periodic brainstorming sessions by both staff and students have resulted in a number of good initiatives and projects to help develop the educational process over the past seven years," she noted.

The individual award categories included best students at different educational levels in government schools, distinguished students in private schools, distinguished adults' classes, distinguished students with special needs, distinguished teacher, distinguished social worker, distinguished employee, distinguished project, distinguished syllabus board and distinguished school.

Some of the prizes were withheld as the entries were not up to the level and failed to meet the criteria.