Scholarships for Frontline Workers: Public Schools Show the Way

A partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Frontline Heroes Office is set to give children of frontline healthcare workers places in UAE public schools, in a new initiative labelled “Hayyakum”.

The scholarships cover the cost of tuition, laptops and transportation until graduation from high school. Recipients of the scholarships reflect the diverse demographic of the UAE population, with children of frontline professionals from a variety of nationalities being offered places in public schools across the seven emirates. Hayyakum has been designed to encourage the long-term retention of frontline healthcare professionals in the UAE”.

Currently no similar initiative exists in the private sector, which has no one governing body able to orchestrate such an initiative. However, SchoolsCompared.com is not aware of any individual private school to have independently offered such a scholarship, which would be in their power. Public schools are predominantly Arabic based and therefore not always relevant to the expatriate makeup of the UAE.

So far, however, 1,850 children of frontline healthcare professionals across the UAE have received scholarships, which will commence this academic year and run until year of graduation.

Applications for this academic year close on 30th September.

The initiative is part of a wider collaborative framework between the Ministry of Education and the Frontline Heroes Office to ensure sustainable funding for the scholarship program and also launch and implement other education-focused initiatives to benefit the children of frontline professionals across the UAE.

“Our frontline professionals are the true heroes of the UAE and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Their selfless service to their communities has helped us to get through this difficult time and they are a shining example of the true values and culture of the UAE.” Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of the Frontline Heroes Office.

The Frontline Heroes Office was established in July 2020 by decree of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and is under the direction of the Chairman of the Frontline Heroes Office, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

 

The Frontline Heroes Office will support a comprehensive range of frontline professionals, including medical and non-medical staff working in the health sector, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, cleaning and services personnel, as well as protection and prevention workers, security and emergency workers, and sanitization workers.