THE SCHOOLS REPORT UAE:
The Schools Compared Weekly Briefing on all that’s New in Education.
Every Thursday we bring you the hottest stories in education in the UAE and around the world in the last 7 days. Here’s what’s been happening this week…
This Week in Education. UAE Education News. First. Every Thursday. Only from SchoolsCompared.com.
UAE parents’ favourite school to be revealed this November
The Schools Compared Top Schools Awards have been confirmed, and will be taking place on November 25 2021 at The Courtyard Playhouse. Launched in 2017 to recognise teachers, schools and all those who work in Education for their vital contribution to the UAE, top awards up for grabs this year include The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award 2021 for School Most Loved by Parents, The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award 2021 for Best Principal in the UAE and the Best School in the UAE. Find out more about the categories.
‘Ed tech’ is not doing enough to really help teachers and students says Abu Dhabi expert
Education technology companies should move beyond their comfort zone and build products and release features to make it a transformative tool for teaching, an EdTech expert said in Abu Dhabi.
Jumana Salem, EdTech vice-president of Injazat — the home-grown national technology champion for Digital Transformation, Cloud, and Security Solutions based in Abu Dhabi, said: “Artificial intelligence (AI) for education sector continues to serve the lowest common denominator of pain points, the lowest hanging fruit, basically the problems that are easiest to fix and in fact have been addressed by several platforms, and this needs to change.”
She said the technology available for the education sector today only addresses and alleviates the administrative challenges of teachers, but a lot more can, and should, be done. “[…] we don’t need more of that.” Nor is the ambitious thinking needed anything to do with robots replacing teachers. Read more.
UAE parents’ outrage: Tragic death of UAE school boy, 5, highlights road safety fears
Following the sad death of a five-year-old boy, who was run over in front of his school in Fujairah this week. UAE parents have been sharing their disgust at the reckless way in which many other parents drive outside school drop-off and pick-up points.
“It makes my blood boil,” says Australian event planner Chelsea, whose children attend school close to The Meadows area of Dubai.
“It’s the arrogance that makes me frustrated. If children are meant to learn from their parents’ behaviour then I can’t imagine what these kids are like in the classroom.” Read the SchoolsCompared.com exclusive Exposé and full story.
Arcadia to Launch Premium “Value School”
Arcadia Education has broken ground on the site of its new school, Arcadia Global School. The all-through, National Curriculum for England school will be situated within close walking distance of the Al Furjan metro station.
Arcadia Global School will offer ‘premium facilities at an affordable price point’ and is set to open in September 2023. Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com exclusive here.
Dads on duty’ make US school ‘feel safe’ after string of violent outbursts
Following a week of violence during which 23 students from Southwood High School in Louisiana were arrested for fighting, the dads decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed Dads on Duty – a group of 40 dads with children at the school – who took it in turns to spent time on campus, greeting students, keeping everyone in check, and making inevitable dad jokes to lighten the mood.
There’s been a marked improvement in the environment, with students saying they feel safe again, and no more incidents reported since. The dads say it’s important for the kids to see positive male role models in their lives, and they plan to form further chapters of Dads on Duty across the county and further afield. Read the full story.
Facebook and Insta under Fire as Whistle-blower says “Children can’t escape from School bullies.”
Bullying on Instagram “follows children into their bedrooms” at night and Facebook knows it, a whistle-blower told MPs yesterday. Frances Haugen, a former product manager for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said the social media company’s own research showed that teenagers were unable to escape abuse online.
Haugen said that a key difference between the modern society for children and hers when she was a teenager was that now there was little escape from bullying because of Instagram. “When I was in high school, it didn’t matter if your experience in high school was horrible, most kids had good homes to go home to and they could at the end of the day disconnect, they would get a break for 16 hours,” she said. UK’s Evening Standard story here.
Almost 80% of UK schools have been targeted by antivaxx protestors
Substantial numbers” of people influenced by conspiracy theories are now willing to take direct action against schools administering vaccines, experts on online misinformation have warned, as Labour called for exclusion orders to block activists.
Amid findings that close to 80% of schools had been targeted by anti-vaxxers, Keir Starmer said it was “sickening” that those against vaccinations were demonstrating where children are educated. Read the UK’s The Guardian full story here.
Abu Dhabi teachers ask for parents’ support with vaccination rates
Teachers in Abu Dhabi are hopeful that more pupils will get vaccinated as authorities plan to ease Covid-19 restrictions based on immunisation rates in schools.
Schools with the best vaccination rates will be able to end physical distancing rules and allow pupils to go outside without wearing masks under the Blue Schools scheme, due to come into force next term. However, Heads of schools believe challenges remain to reach the top blue tier, as parents of some younger pupils are still hesitant to get children vaccinated. Read more.
Climate crisis education should be part of the curriculum, say UK unions
Climate crisis education should become fully embedded in the system, unions in the UK have urged.
A joint letter to the education secretary, calls for a review of the curriculum to ensure everyone is mobilised for a “sustainable future”.
Four unions representing school, college and university staff say young people have the most to lose from the lack of direction on climate change in the run-up to crucial Cop26 talks in Glasgow. Latest here.
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