United Arab Emirates launches digital school for refugee children
he Digital School that UAE has launched the opportunity to one million refugee and disadvantaged children over the next few years. It is part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives (MBRGI) project.
Children from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan will benefit from this initiative, and the first group of students will join digitalschool.org in September 2021.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the vice-president and ruler of the UAE, considered that this school fills a "scientific and educational gap in the Arab world". "We have millions of children who lose years of education because of economic conditions or conflict. And if no one moves to address these problems, generations will come led by ignorance and extremism, instead of guiding their countries of origin with the light of knowledge," the Dubai leader said.
A pilot plan was launched in November with 20,000 students enrolled and will run until August next year. Students will have access to digital learning materials available in the Arabic and international study programmes.
Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Working Applications, said education is the key to giving children a better future. "We have read in history that if you want to change the future of a country, you have to change education," he said. "Up to 1.6 billion people worldwide were left without schooling in 190 countries because of COVID-19," he said.
The Digital School was developed after extensive research and review of the main global learning experiences on how to implement an advanced and comprehensive digital learning ecosystem and promote new educational technologies.
Driven by advanced learning technologies, the Digital School will "offer a flexible and personalised approach to the development of knowledge and skills. It will provide equitable access to high quality education to students worldwide, especially targeting refugees and disadvantaged students in the Arab world".
"The Digital School pilot phase, which will run until September 2021, will target 20,000 students and aims to reach one million students from disadvantaged groups worldwide over the next five years or from 2021 to 2026," Dr Jan Plass , President Paulette Goddard of Digital Media and Learning Sciences at New York University, told Gulf News during the media launch.
A partnership with universities will help provide technology solutions in remote areas where students do not have access to digital learning tools. These include Harvard, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and mEducation Alliance. Dedicated teachers will be hired in the coming months.
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