Sandooq AlWatan launched the “Mawhibatna Spring 2020” program through distance learning, for the purpose of discovering and nurturing Emirati talented students with high mental ability, and in line with the preventive and precautionary measures taken by UAE government to protect the public health.
As part of “Mawhibatna” initiative, the program included 135 talented Emirati students from sixth to eleventh grade, who successfully completed 157 online courses during the past week, and they were able to learn advanced knowledge and gain high skills that stimulate their intellectual, scientific and creative capabilities in various fields.
The program was implemented using the Khan Academy online platform and focusing on two main areas: Space Science and Economics. In the first field, which is developed by the American Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), through which students were introduced to new concepts about the solar system, planets, and the journey to Mars. While in the Economic field, students were introduced to the characteristics of markets, supply and demand, and what happens when market conditions change.
“Mawhibatna” program is sponsored by Aldar Properties, Ali and Sons, and Emaar. The Spring Program is one of the enrichment programs that “Mawhibatna” initiative offers to support the development and advancement of gifted students’ knowledge and skills and qualify them to enter the best universities in the world.
On this occasion, Ahmed Mahmoud Fikri, Acting General Manager of Sandooq AlWatan, said: “We succeeded this year in implementing the program through distance learning. Despite the circumstances and challenges we are facing; the participation and engagement levels of students and parents were high and effective. Students were able through the platform to learn new subjects and to take advantage of their vacation period to equip themselves with the twenty first century skills. We aim through the “Mawhibatna” program to discover and nurture talented Emirati school students so that we can prepare a generation of future scholars and entrepreneurs, who can contribute in the sustainable development plan in every field in alignment with the UAE’s national agenda for UAE vision 2021 and UAE Centennial 2071”.
Ahmed Fikri added, “Our leadership in the UAE invests heavily in youth being the mainstay of the country and the leaders of the future,” insisting on the fact that “Sandooq AlWatan works hard to provide opportunities for national competencies to contribute in building a future knowledge-based and research-based economy, under all the circumstances.”
For her part, Salwa Al Maflahi, Associate Director – Sustainability & CSR, Aldar Properties, said: “We are a proud partner of Sandooq Al Watan and in particular the “Mawhibatna” programme, which is helping talented Emirati students to fulfil their fullest potential. Being able to adapt the programme to cater to students participating remotely is a strong endorsement of the preparedness of everyone involved – in particular the students who are thriving.”
On their part, the brothers Khalifa and Hussein Khaled Al Shamsi expressed their admiration for the experience and how much they benefited from the opportunity of distance education, as Khalifa said: “I have registered in two courses “Exploring the Universe “ and “Microeconomics”. I loved in the program that it exposed me to new and interesting information outside the school curriculum. The program made me taking advantage of my vacation time and gain many skills that will benefit me in my studies such as distance learning. While Hussein reflected on his experience saying: “I liked the experience because I learned valuable and exciting information and gained useful skills as I was able to explore NASA’s efforts in space as well as in Mars. I was also able to learn about the latest developments in scientific research in this field”. From his side, the father, Khaled Al Shamsi, thanked the Sandooq Al Watan for creating this program as well as the UAE leadership for investing in youth who will lead the future and he added by saying “personally I have seen the change in my children in terms of developing familiarity with many information and advancing their understanding, their focus and their performance, and I repeat my thanks to those in charge of this the program, God bless you all.”
Talking about her experience, Amna Khalid Aldhebaiei, a Mawhibatna students said: “I choose my microeconomics as my subject. I would like to thank Mawhibatna and Khan Academy for this opportunity to give me a glimpse of how people and businesses make decisions. Although I am in year Nine, I have this opportunity to study the vast world of economics. I realized that Microeconomics applies to almost every aspect of our lives; from doing groceries, purchasing anything, supply to cover the demand of our requirements, business decisions and such, it’s in everything! And I am thankful to my family for encouraging me on this path.”
The “Mawhibatna” initiative is one of Sandooq AlWatan initiatives that deals with discovering and nurturing talented Emirati students from the fourth to twelfth grade in order to invest in their potentials and develop their capabilities to excel in the future. Snadooq AlWatan aims through this initiative to discover 2000 Emirati talents and nurture at least 500 of them, and place 60% of them in the top universities around the world.
During the period 2018-2019, Sandooq AlWatan was able to discover 309 talented Emirati students and nurture 210 of them through various programs in the spring and summer, locally and internationally. In partnership with the most prestigious local and international academic institutions, including the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, New York University Abu Dhabi, Khalifa University, Ajman University, Stanford University and other educational institutions, in order to provide students with a stimulating environment for creativity, innovation, and competition and support the development of their leadership skills to become the future leaders of the UAE in all fields and a fundamental building block in establishing a sustainable knowledge-based national economy.
