Abu Dhabi Education Council stresses on goals in new drive

For the start of the new academic year, Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has launched the Where Is Your Journey Taking You? campaign, that aims to encourage pupils to pay more heed to their studies.

ABU DHABI // Your education is a journey, one that could lead from the classroom all the way to Mars, pupils will be told this year.

For the start of the new academic year, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has launched Where is your Journey Taking You?, a campaign that aims to encourage pupils to pay more attention to their studies.

Children from kindergarten to Year 12 will be given a folder containing a notebook in which they are encouraged to write their goals in life and class schedules, name tags for them to personalise, and a letter to their parents outlining Adec’s mission.

The project will be promoted with a television commercial, showing the opportunities open to pupils through hard work at school. Furthermore, individualised stories of pupils’ successes will be advertised on more than 100 newly refurbished school buses.

“We want to make their dreams a reality. By writing it down it becomes that,” said Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Adec’s Director General.

“We want our students to realise that they are the core of the educational process, and our goal is to provide them with the best opportunities to discover their abilities and fulfil their ambitions through education.

“Even though the journey begins each day in one of Abu Dhabi’s schools, it may take them all the way to Mars.”

Dr Al Qubaisi said she hoped the project would be particularly inspiring to pupils starting their first day at school.

“Everyone remembers the day when their parents took them hand in hand to school. This time should be cherished by our families as a moment to be proud and hopeful for the future,” she said.

This year Adec is also encouraging pupils to study science, technology, exploration and discovery, with the aim of creating a knowledge-based economy in the future.

This was part of equipping pupils with the tools necessary for Abu Dhabi’s goals in 2030, according to Dr Al Qubaisi.

“It’s like any journey. The objective of the journey is the future, usually in either Adec or any association that cares about education. We talk about policies, abilities and structures, but the main objective is the student,” she said.

According to Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, the Executive Director of Adec’s School Operations, other changes have been made to the education programme this year.

“We started preparations for the beginning of the year through committees that have been working since the beginning of 2014 to tackle challenges and provide for the best possible experience this year,” said Mr Al Dhaheri.

He added that four new schools have been started this year, and 300 Emirati teachers have also been hired and trained.

Dr Al Qubaisi said that schooling and education are not a task for educators alone but also for society as a whole.

“It’s a concerted effort – government institutions, society, parents and media need to be involved in education. The future is the goal for everyone and education is the means of reaching that future,” she said.