ADEC's plan to help prepare its youth for future

Based on a wise vision to help encourage more Emirati students to enter the Science stream, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council (ADEC), Emirati students have been offered advanced Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry classes through one of France's top performing high schools, the LLG.

Since the decision was made, LLG-Abu Dhabi in collaboration with LLG-Paris was given the name 'Advanced Math and Science Pilot Class' for Grades 10, 11 and 12 in two schools: the Al Ittihad Boys School and the Al Mawaheb Girls School.

The first batch of Advanced Math and Science Pilot Class for the LLG project graduated on June 29th 2011. Ever since, the project has gained a huge amount of interest among the local Emirati community, attracting more Emirati students to the programme.

In order to get a feel of how LLG operates, 145 Grade 9 girls from the Al Reem School and 11 girls from the Fatima Bent Mubarak School, interacted with the current batch of Emirati students in the school.

"Students interacted with the current LLG batch of students and performed Scientific Investigations and visited the LLG lab during an open day. Our current LLG batch of students have benefited a great deal from the programme, their progress is evident in the knowledge they have gained in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The programme has also helped improve their English and critical thinking skills, and helped them gain confidence and independence," said Ms. Dhabia Ali Al Qamzi, School Principal at Al Mawaheb Girls School.

The LLG pilot at AL Ittihad School project currently consists of 23 Emirati students in Grade 10, 12 students in Grade 11 and nine students in Grade 12. The male and female students due to sit for the screening exam include 38 students from the Al Ghazali School, 44 from the Al Suqoor School, and 37 from the Al Ruwwad School as well as 156 female students from Al Reem and 11 female students from Fatima Bint Mubarak Schools.

Mr. Gabriel Nader, ADEC Liaison Officer to the Lycee Louis le Grand Project, LLG Coordinator, explained the process, "Selected high achieving Grade 9 students from five of the schools, namely the girls' schools: Al Reem and Fatima Bent Mubarak, and the boys schools, Al Ghazali, Al Ruwwad and Al Suqoor, will sit for the screening test on April 25th 2013, and from those students, only 60 boys and 60 girls will be selected to move onto the oral interview, ending in selecting two grade 10 LLG classes of 25 students each."

Speaking about the screening test, Mr. Nader added, "The screening test is for two hours long, and is bilingual. Students can choose to answer the questions in the language of their choice, Arabic or English, and questions are in multiple choice formats."

Al Ittihad School Principal, Mr. Salem Khamis Al Hamad, explained, "The selected boys due to sit for the screening exam on April 25th will be given a presentation by Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (PSUAD) during their open day on March 6th 2013. "Boys from the three schools (Al Ghazali, Al Ruwwad and Al Suqoor), will arrive to the Al Ittihad School to meet the existing batch of male LLG students in order to become familiar with the type of education they will be receiving. On that same day, PSUAD will give a presentation on the new physics pre-engineering course due to commend in 2013 to help encourage students to look forward to a reputable higher education degree and a fruitful career path."

A panel from LLG Abu Dhabi and LLG Paris will conduct an oral interview with the students who passed the screening test. "Letters of consent will then be sent to their parents, who have the choice to accept or reject enrollment of their child in the programme. Upon acceptance, an evening will be dedicated to parents to help answer any queries or questions regarding the pilot class," concluded Mr. Nader.

As per ADEC's aim to encourage talented Emirati students to excel, the council will continue to enroll top performing students over the next few years. This comes in line with ADEC's mission to expose its talented students to internationally renowned educational standards that will help fit them in globally competitive market opportunities in the near future.