Jameela Khanji: Activating the role of specialized educational institutions in early childhood.
Cairo Arafat: Enhancing the capacities of specialists in early childhood development.
Fatima Al Bastaki: Improving the lives of our children in a way that helps in the development of our societies.
Bochra Kaddoura: Developing early childhood education systems and methodologies.
Abu Dhabi: Wednesday 15 March 2023
The General Secretariat of the Khalifa Award for Education emphasized the importance of celebrating Emirati Children’s Day, which coincides with the fifteenth of March every year, in which it sheds light on the national achievements that have been made in the care and empowerment of children since the launch of the inception of the United Arab Emirates, noting that the scope of the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning, globally first of its kind, stresses UAE interests in empowering Childhood and providing a motivating environment for discovering and nurturing its talents from an early age.
This came during the an English virtual seminar organized by the General Secretariat of the award on the occasion of Emirati Children’s Day, entitled “The UAE is a Leading Global Model in Child Care”. The Session is headed by Amal Al-Afifi, Secretary-General of the Khalifa Award for Education, and guest speakers were: Dr. Cairo Fatima Arafat, Principal Advisor At the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, Fatima Al Bastaki, member of the Awarding Committee for the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning Field, and Dr. Bochra Kaddoura, an early childhood evaluation administrator at the Sharjah Private Education Authority. The session was moderated by Dr. Jameela Khanji, member of the Executive Committee of the Khalifa Award for Education.
Dr. Jameela Khanji initially indicated the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning scope aims at appreciating advanced programs, methodologies and teaching methods, encouraging distinguished teachers, activating the role of specialized educational centers, institutions and companies in early childhood, honoring the best personal experiences, and paying attention to “People of Determination” in the field of Early childhood, promoting the dissemination of the best studies and the most successful practices and methodologies in the field of early education.
During the session, she touched on the fact that this field also enhances the various social, physical, mental, intellectual, creative, psychological, cognitive and emotional fields in the early education and childhood years, and enriches distinguished innovative education programs with research, studies, programs, curricula, methodologies and advanced teaching methods in the field of early education, and motivates teachers who are creators of change through Best practices and innovation in the field of early education, activating and encouraging the role of centers, institutions and educational companies specialized in the field of early childhood, introducing the most successful individual experiences in the field of early education, benefiting from the best studies and the most successful programs, methodologies and educational practices in early childhood, and stimulating their application in educational institutions within the UAE.
Cairo Arafat then said: The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority works strategically with its various partners to ensure the well-being, growth and safety of all young children, as well as to support the efforts of parents in providing their children with care, appropriate nurturing behaviors, stimulation and protection that can allow them to achieve their goals. their full potential, by developing policies such as a policy to ban advertising of unhealthy food products and a social protection policy for children of low-income families, as well as conducting research on the causes of children’s frequent absence from school, negative childhood experiences, and family care for children of determination.
Arafat added, “The authority has also made a lot of efforts to enhance the capabilities and skills of many relevant specialists on topics related to early childhood development, child protection, and positive parenting, including child protection specialists, teachers, health workers, social workers, and national civil servants. , and others, and in cooperation with its partners, the authority launched a set of successful initiatives that included raising awareness of the family and social support services available to children of determination, developing a data system and a laboratory that uses evidence-based methods to support early childhood programs, as well as developing a child protection system.
Fatima Al Bastaki said: A child spends the first eight years of his life in early education, and therefore we must ensure that these years are a good investment in learning and development, whether at home or outside, and they constitute a very important stage, because they contribute to improving the lives of our children and families. , which automatically helps in the long-term development of our societies.
She added that the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning Field, in its two categories: Best Research and Studies, and Best Programs, Curricula, Teaching Methodologies and Practices, has empowered providing the best new visions about the early childhood stage, and these studies can lead to revealing and addressing any problems in policies and current early education practices.
Al Bastaki said: The UAE is a pioneer in early childhood education, as it was able to take measures that guarantee the well-being and quality of life for all children, regardless of their social and cultural backgrounds, to achieve equal opportunities that will allow them to contribute positively to serving their communities. Moreover, the UAE government supports many initiatives that promote inclusivity and diversity, which aim to promote tolerance, reject hatred, and provide an environment that guarantees children a sense of safety and happiness.
Dr. Bochra Kaddoura emphasized the importance of the role played by the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning Field, as this field represents one of the prominent national initiatives that enhance the efforts of the United Arab Emirates in providing a distinguished model for child care at the local, regional and international levels, noting that the UAE enacted legislation and laws that ensure the sound development of children in the various fields of care such as education, health, social, cultural and family care, in recognition of the importance of the early childhood stage. Evidently, this stage should include comprehensive initiatives related to the development of early childhood education systems and methods, which is exactly the case in United Arab Emirates; as UAE education system has witnessed remarkable efforts over the past years in terms of laying scientific foundations for teaching methods that discover and nurture talents for early childhood, and provide the necessary infrastructure that enables this category of creativity and excellence.
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