Aldar Education Teacher Celebrates First Class of Emirati and GCC Graduates

• New strategic partnership focused on developing Emiratis and nationals from sister GCC countries into tomorrow's teaching professionals completes its first phase
• More than 80 trainees graduated today from the inaugural Teacher Introductory Training programme, with a view to training more than 300 young graduates from the UAE during a longer-term programme
• The course's innovative bilingual programme is part of Aldar Education's commitment to developing talent, with a focus on the importance of the Arabic language

Abu Dhabi, 25 June 2020: As part of its commitment to empower and inspire the next generation of Emirati and GCC teaching professionals and help shape the future of education, Aldar Education celebrated the graduation of 82 trainee teachers in the first phase of an innovative, far-reaching programme created to help train and develop aspiring teacher graduates from Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi.

During a virtual ceremony attended by Talal Al Dhiyebi, Chief Executive Officer at ALDAR Properties PJSC, Sahar Cooper, CEO of Aldar Education, Dr Khaled Alyabhouni, Acting Vice Chancellor Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi, Dr Saif Al Shaali, Advisor to the Vice Chancellor of Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi, as well as Aldar Education's Board Members Bayan Al Hosani, Rashed Al Omaira and Mohamed Al Neaimi, the graduates were congratulated on their achievement.

The first phase in a long-term strategic partnership between Aldar Education and Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi, and with a strong focus on the importance of the Arabic language in education, the online Teacher Introductory Training programme was created to provide a platform to facilitate quality teacher training.

As Abu Dhabi's largest and most innovative education provider, the programme marks a key milestone in Aldar Education's longer term strategic roadmap to help hundreds of Arabic-speaking UAE graduates realise their potential, with a view to rolling out the ground-breaking initiative on a wider scale during the next two to three years.

With a holistic approach intended to furnish young Arabic university graduates with the array of academic, technical, language and social skills required to innovate, inspire and positively impact the UAE's education sector of tomorrow, the course aims to provide an important practical foundation from which to continue their professional journey.

Delivered by a team of Aldar Education's instructors, the inaugural course combined practical and theoretical exercises to demonstrate future-focused pedagogy and learning approaches.

As well as being given an insight on how lessons are prepared and planned, the graduates were assessed on how they performed in real-life scenarios. Based at one of Aldar Education's schools, these practical on-the-job exercises included observing how lessons are conducted, how teachers interact with their students as well as opportunities to lead small groups of children.

Following the completion of the introductory programme, the successful graduates can enrol on Aldar Education's Initial Training Course and eventually the Newly Qualified Teacher Training Programme, meaning that support is provided at each stage of their development. 

Sahar Cooper, CEO of Aldar Education, said: "We believe in investing in the teachers of tomorrow and supporting them every step of the way. I was inspired early in my career by the commitment of the UAE to continually strive for educational excellence and since joining Aldar Education as CEO, it has been my ambition to cultivate local talent. I feel strongly that the best way we can facilitate this is by investing in quality teacher training for students from the UAE. By empowering these future educators and with a focus on Arabic language, we are raising the standards of teaching and learning in areas that are crucial for our students."

"By partnering with Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi on this pilot programme, we are looking to open up opportunities for local graduates to gain hands-on experience during the next two to three years. These students graduating today will go on to teach our future leaders; being an educator is a position of huge responsibility and an honour. This is simply a first step in our investment in teacher training; the success of the pilot programme has been inspiring, and I look forward to our plans to extend this across Abu Dhabi."

H.E Dr. Khaled Al Yabhouni Al Dhahrei, Acting Chancellor of Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi, said: "Mohammed V University Abu Dhabi is keen to strengthen its partnerships with leading educational institutions, in line with the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 our wise leadership has set," praising the great efforts Aldar Education is making to support educational institutions to meet international standards of educational excellence."

"We are committed to preparing a distinguished future generation, who possess the cognitive skills and practical experience that qualify our youth to enter and compete in the future job market."

He concluded: "This partnership demonstrates the great importance that the UAE's leadership and the university's management are placing on enriching student's educational experience."