In coordination with local authorities and national education systems, The Digital School is working in its first year in five countries including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Mauritania and Colombia, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the first operational phase of The Digital School in five countries including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Mauritania and Colombia.
In the first year, more than 20,000 students will be enrolled, as part of a vision to increase the number of students to one million students within the next five years.
The announcement was made during a special event held at Expo 2020 Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed said: “Our goal is to bring digital learning to new horizons as it is the education of the future and the future of education.”
Commenting on the initiative’s goal of providing learning opportunities for refugees, displaced persons and students in disadvantaged areas in different countries around the world, Sheikh Mohammed added: “In line with international standards in its educational and knowledge content, The Digital School articulates our belief that education is a right for all and that equal educational opportunities are the basis of comprehensive and sustainable development.”
He also noted that the Digital School seeks to enhance the future of education, ensure continuous innovation, and promote digital learning as a strategic investment for the future.
The event highlighted the objectives of The Digital School in its first year to reach students in five countries, train 500 teachers, set up 120 learning centers, and provide world-class educational content in three languages: Arabic, French and Spanish.
The Digital School is the first comprehensive digital school, providing distance education in a smart and flexible format, so students can join wherever they are, with a focus on the less fortunate, the disadvantaged and refugees in Arab nations and across the globe.
It provides digital study and supporting materials that are compatible with the Arab and international curricula, and offers an opportunity to interact with a number of licensed teachers and their colleagues through virtual classrooms.
It operates through the widest international and national partnerships of its kind within a knowledge alliance that seeks to mobilize efforts and resources to provide opportunities for quality education to millions of students around the world.
The Digital School aims to reach one million male and female students in the first five years, focusing primarily on students in disadvantaged communities and underprivileged groups.
In coordination with local authorities and national education systems, The Digital School is working in its first year in five countries including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Mauritania and Colombia. It adopts the latest technology applications, artificial intelligence and educational tools to fulfill the educational needs of the students benefiting from the initiative.
Presented initially in three languages – Arabic, French and Spanish – with materials matching the nationally approved curricula in the beneficiary countries and communities through a modern digital education platform, The Digital School provides lessons in mathematics, science, Arabic, computer, and others through virtual and comprehensive classrooms. It offers an interactive learning environment that contributes to student empowerment and enhances communication between students and educators through advanced tools to assess performance, promote self-learning, and ensure an interactive simulation of each student’s needs.
The Digital School works to be at the heart of new changes in this vital field, by utilizing the latest technologies and artificial intelligence applications and building international partnerships with more than 30 educational, technical and development institutions around the world through the establishment of the Alliance for the Future of Digital Learning.
ALSO READ: UAE’s non-oil foreign trade records 27% growth
The Digital School is supported by the Alliance for the Future of Digital Learning, the first of its kind initiative that works to unify efforts in the field of the future of digital education globally.
It has also signed agreements of support and strategic cooperation. The school has concluded agreements with leading charity, humanitarian and knowledge institutions, such as the Awqaf & Minors Affairs Foundation in Dubai, which allocated a sustainable endowment whose proceeds will help disseminate education through The Digital School; the Emirates Red Crescent Authority to establish 1,000 learning centers affiliated to Digital School within the next five years; a strategic cooperation agreement with Arizona State University as a strategic partner in the training and capacity building of teachers; and Microsoft to collaborate in providing and developing modern digital education solutions for The Digital School.
Furthermore, The Digital School has signed strategic memoranda of understanding with many institutions and entities concerned with the future of digital education and innovation, including the Mobile Learning Alliance, the World Food Program, Dubai Cares, and Amazon.
In addition to increase the number of beneficiaries to one million students over the next five years, The Digital School aims to train 1,500 teachers in the next three years.
