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Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, HBMSU, recently took part in a special virtual seminar attended by some of the most prominent international educational organisations and institutions to further enhance the constructive contributions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, in support of promoting education in the African continent.
The webinar was held in partnership with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, UNESCO IITE, the UNESCO Nairobi Office (Regional Office for East Africa), and the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, UNESCO IICBA, amidst consensus on the importance of exploring new horizons for implementing joint projects that serves the aspirations of providing quality education in Africa to qualify new generations capable of investing their potential in building a better, safer and more prosperous future.
The participants discussed and created an initial action plan that is aimed at supporting education in the African continent via a series of electronic seminars at the local and regional levels and providing educational resources via the Internet from the leading pioneering institutions, which includes the HBMSU, Huawei, Facebook, Coursera, Commonwealth of Learning, Weidong and UNESCO IICBA.
The attendees agreed on the importance of the concerted efforts between educational institutions, technology companies, search engines and social media in spreading the culture of smart education.
Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor, HBMSU, stressed that the university is keen on organising free electronic training courses for faculty and staff of African schools and universities that will be nominated by UNESCO, following the success of its earlier offered courses, "Be an online tutor in 24 hours" and "Design an online course in 24 hours."
The courses were launched in five languages and had seen the participation of 110,000 participants from all over the world and resulting in the issuance of more than 92,000 certificates.
Al Awar said, "The HBMSU is honoured to be joining fellow international entities in education in support of UNESCO's efforts to advance the march of education and development in the African continent, under the guidance of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the President of the University."
"We look forward to actively contributing to the success of projects aimed at providing teachers in Africa with collective resources and advanced joint capabilities, in cooperation and coordination with the UNESCO Office in Nairobi and the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, as we believe in the importance of providing educational opportunities as a lifeline during crises and the most powerful way to sustain life," he added.
The webinar started with an opening speech given by Ann Therese, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Nairobi.
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