UAE aims for 1 of the world's top 5 education systems

The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) will host its second annual Education Conference, "Essentials of School Education in the United Arab Emirates", on October 3-4, 2011 at the Center's office complex in Abu Dhabi. "Believing that education is central to the nations' development and growth and aiming to offer solutions to decisions makers in education, the conference will explore key components indispensable to the progress of education in the UAE," said Dr Abdulla Al Sahlawi, ECSSR executive director. "Topics to be discussed will include the role of teachers in improving students' performance, the development of curricula that enhance students' achievements and the importance of international assessment," he added. The conference will comprise of four main sessions. The first one will embark upon the role of state and society in developing the education systems and will touch upon the relation of local identity and global education developments. The second sessions will focus on the three major elements in the education triangle: learners, teachers, and family. In this session various possible training programs and ways of improving teachers' skills and abilities will be discussed. Best strategies and techniques in improving learners' abilities and the role of the family in the education process will be highlighted. Putting in place a well developed and structured curricula to encourage student achievement, the impact of technology in modern curricula that promotes economic growth and national productivity and innovation will be that at the center of the third session. Discussions in the last session will include the importance of international benchmarks and assessment standards in the development of education and the study of successful education experiences worldwide. Analysis and recommendations will be compiled and put at the service of educators, education institutes and councils across the UAE in order "to make (the UAE) education system one of the top five advanced systems in the world," as expressed in a statement by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and president of the ECSSR.