e-Learning project leads the way in reviving Arab learning

A focused revivalist vision is an invaluable asset for progress and heritage preservation and the e-Learning project launched on Monday by Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, fully manifests this belief, a UAE daily has commented.

In an editorial on Wednesday, the Gulf News said, "An astute strategy that seeks to revitalise the spread of online education in the Arab world, the e-Learning project, by the end of 2018, aims to reach 50 million Arab children between Kindergarten and Grade 12 through the translation of 5,000 videos and 11 million words, with emphasis on mathematics and science. All members of the Arab community who possess the skills to translate curated works of science and maths by the project committee have been invited to enroll in this endeavour."

The paper continued, "With this, the UAE has, in an ingenious move, reconnected powerfully with the Islamic Golden Age (8th century to 13th century, approximately) that bequeathed a vast knowledge treasury to the world underpinned by the fiery spirit of enquiry. For about 500 years or more, the Arabic language, according to historians, was in perfect alignment with scientific and mathematical pursuits driven by the hunger for learning.

"A trenchant aspect of the knowledge mastery by Arabs was the Translation Movement initiated by rulers of the time; scientific information in Arabic was made available in other languages while Arabs channelled foreign knowledge treasuries through translations into Arabic. It was a period that proved that civilisations can collaborate, rather than clash, if the virtue of mutual enrichment is delineated well by a wise politic, and Arabs achieved this collaboration with remarkable acuity. For example, it was Arabs who facilitated the spread of the Indian number system and arithmetic throughout the world. The e-Learning project’s call for translation as a core strategy thus has a deep resonance with history.

"The timing of the project is also critically relevant. Numerous studies and surveys reveal the lacunae in learning in modern Arab societies. For example, only 1 percent of global research and development is contributed by Arab scholars while the quality of science and maths education at schools in the Arab world ranks at 3.9 out of 7 according to a World Economic Forum report.

"Clearly, much needs to be done and the UAE, always at the forefront of driving metamorphoses, leads the way in reviving the spirit of Arab learning and knowledge creation for generations to benefit," concluded the Dubai-based daily.