UAE Initiatives
ABU DHABI : The Ministry of Education will initiate on Wednesday and Thursday the pilot stage of a distance learning initiative through its website for all government schools nationwide.
Students and teachers will have a normal school day on Wednesday, with the initiative to be confined to second cycle students (Grades 6-9) at 5-7 pm on Wednesday, and to high school students (Grades 10-12) on Thursday during which students will stay at home and teachers at school, according to a statement by the Ministry today.
The Ministry has directed various school administrations to launch an awareness campaign on distance education for all targeted groups, including parents, students, teachers and administrators. The campaign should elaborate on the tasks assigned to each category, and to direct those concerned to access the ministry’s training platform to see how to implement interactive lessons for distance education, and to ensure availability of electronic devices for the second and third cycle students while finding alternative solutions in cooperation with parents.
The ministry has called on parents to create an appropriate learning environment at home by providing internet services, other distance education resources like computers, tablets, and smart phones. Parents are also advised to encourage students practise distance learning as per the subject and time schedule approved by their schools.
Students are also obliged to commit themselves to the public policy of using learning devices during the distance education process, during which other distracting activities like photography and web-browsing should be prohibited, according to the statement.
“Implementation of this system is prioritised by the ministry to provide an interactive e-platform for distance education for all and to overcome time and geographical barriers, and harness educational potential and advanced technologies to ease student stress,” added the statement.
Inputs from WAM/Hatem Mohamed/Tariq alfaham
