Middle East's education conference TeachME sees massive success

The conference, which ran over a course of two days, fielded over 75 sessions tackling modern teaching techniques and major issues in education today. It hosted 14 presenters from Lebanon, the US, Ireland, the UK, the UAE, Canada and Germany.

The topics covered included social skills, motivation and youth empowerment, classroom management, English language, effective teaching, early childhood education, technology, leadership, mathematics and teaching of the Arabic language (both as first and second language).

The conference targeted school operators, teachers, principals, policy makers and parents from the UAE and abroad. The event also hosted an exhibition of products and books relating to schools and education.

Among the highlights of the conference were major panels, including discussions on fighting childhood obesity in the UAE, held in partnership with UNICEF. UNICEF Representative in the Gulf Dr. Ayman Abu Laban; Director of the Health Ministry's Health Legislation Department Dr. Mariam Matroushi; and Project Manager for Princess Haya's Initiative for the Development of Health, Physical Education and School Sports Mr. Ahmed Abdul Rahman gave presentations about the issue and the importance of fighting it in the UAE.

A second panel tackled the usage of Information Technology in schools, and presented by key technology firms including Acer and Microsoft. A third panel explored the issue of teaching the Arabic Language and the challenges it faces. The presenters were Director of the Professional Development Department at the Ministry of Education in the UAE Mrs. Nabila Ali Al Mirza; Regional Director of ESOL Mr. Bassam Abu Chakra; and Director of Arabic and Islamic Education at Repton School in Dubai Mr. Hazim Abbas.

The Emirates Foundation funded the participation of 100 administrators and teachers from public schools across the Emirates.

The TeachME Conference had Acer as Platinum Sponsors, Arab Buissness. Machine, Alternative Solutions, Dell, Logicom and Microsoft as Gold, and Kaspersky and Juma Al Majid Est. Aramex was also the logistics partner.