School campaign generates millions

The ceremony was attended by HH Sheikh Mayed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ambassador of the Dubai Cares for Schools Campaign. Held at the Sheikh Rashid Auditorium in Dubai, the 1800 strong audience comprised of students, teachers and management of schools.

An integral part of the Dubai Cares campaign, it focused on the education sector, encouraging children to care for children, teachers for teachers and schools for schools. An easy-to-use voucher system combined with creative fundraising efforts from the students was the mainstay of this campaign that encompassed all schools and higher education institutes in the Emirate of Dubai. As the total of around AED 18 million shows, the response from students and schools was indeed overwhelming.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the campaign Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of KHDA said, "Dubai is known for its towers, cranes and constructions, but now the world knows Dubai for something more - its care and its generosity. And it has been possible because of you - the students - who realized that their pity was not enough."

"The campaign has been a huge success and I thank every student in Dubai for their efforts and contributions. It is heartening to see every student rise to the occasion ans show so much solidarity towards the kids and the communities that this campaign will help. You the students are the true champions of this campaign, without whom none of this would have been possible. Today all of you have received top scores for care and compassion,"

he added.

KHDA recognized the top achievers at the ceremony. The most creative event idea by a school or a group of schools went to the AMSI group (Al Mawakeb school in Garhoud and Barsha and International School for Arts and Sciences). They won the award for the 'Hands Together' event in which students formed a human chain around the school.

Individual efforts from students were also recognized. In the top spot were Saud, Mohammed and Rashid Abdelaziz, three brothers from the Rashid School of Boys. In second place was Ashkan Ahmed Asghari from the Gulf Indian High School and third place was Kaushik Mehta from the Dubai Modern High School.

The top three schools with the most funds raised through the voucher system and other fund raising efforts were , Our Own English High School (Zabeel and Warqa branches) with Dhs1,391,490, The Indian High School (Zabeel and Garhoud branches) with Dhs850,000 and Latifa School for Girls with Dhs694,088.

HH Sheikh Mayed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum awarded the winners with certificates.

He then received a gigantic mock cheque of Dhs17,752,440 as the total collection to date. The school voucher system generated Dhs11,747,630 while other contributions from the schools totaled Dhs6,004,810. More contributions are expected in the coming days.

There were two performances from the school children at the event - a dance performance from the Jumeirah Model School and a song from the 60-strong choir of the Emirates International School. The song by the choir will soon be recorded on a CD and will be available for sale with the proceeds going to the Dubai Cares Campaign. Both the performances were inspired by the Dubai Cares Campaign.