The UAE Ministry of Education, Knowledge Hub, a leading provider of learning solutions in the UAE and throughout the Middle East, and Renaissance, the creator of the myON digital reading platform, have signed an agreement to launch a project which aims to improve English reading standards for the 380,000 students in primary and secondary Emirati schools.
The agreement was signed by Dr Sameera Alhosani, Curriculum Director for Humanities and Languages at the UAE Ministry of Education, Surekha Kembhavi, CEO of Knowledge Hub, and Joan Mill, Managing Director of Renaissance International at the Ministry of Education in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi.
For the UAE Ministry of Education, this project drives the continued improvement of English literacy standards in the country. This is in line with the UAE Centennial 2071 and the Ministry’s strategic vision of innovative education. The agreement, which covers all UAE public schools, is the largest myON governmental implementation in history and comes after two successful pilot schemes run in the country.
Launch a competition in support of the UAE’s annual Month of Reading
“This collaboration strengthens our journey towards providing the best high-quality education to the young minds of our country. Through reading and literacy tools like myONour learners will be able to develop enhanced skills to meet the requirements of future jobs and careers,” commented Dr Sameera.
Ms Kembhavi said: “This partnership is a big achievement for us, helping deliver skills that are a very important part of the learning process today. We are thrilled to be partnering with a global platform like Renaissance to bring the right reading tools to students in the UAE, as it will help encourage a reading culture among students in the region.”
“This collaboration strengthens our journey towards providing the best high-quality education to the young minds of our country”
As part of the collaboration and to support the UAE’s annual Month of Reading, a special reading competition has been announced, which is open to all public-school students. Running throughout the month of Ramadan, the competition challenges students to read as many digital books on myON as they can. Students who read the most will be recognised with certificates of achievement. Top-performing schools will also be recognised, as will teachers whose students have the highest rates of participation.
Ms Mill said: “We are proud to formalise our agreement with the UAE Ministry of Education to mark the start of the myON Reading Initiative. Since 7 March, this year, when the Reading Initiative Competition started, UAE students have already read over 510,000 books, spending over three million minutes reading on myON. These are exciting times for education in the UAE and Renaissance. The government here is well ahead of many others in its desire to see innovation in education in the classroom. And the move away from traditional teaching and learning towards a more personalised curriculum – one that responds to each English language learner’s individual strengths and weaknesses – chimes perfectly with what Renaissance offers and believes.”