“Education is an essential pillar to venture into the future, achieve sustainable development, and transition to a knowledge economy,” said Dr. Mohamed Ebrahim Al Mualla, Undersecretary for Academic Affairs, UAE Ministry of Education.

In his address to this year’s edition of Middle East’s largest education show, GESS Dubai 2021, on opening day, Al Mualla said, "Our presence here today constitutes an exceptional opportunity to discuss contemporary and emerging educational issues, and build on educational achievements, following a difficult period the world witnessed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which cast a shadow over several sectors, including education."

According to Al Mualla, the next fifty years will bring in high-quality education system in UAE, ensuring competitiveness at the early childhood stage; an innovative global educational system for bolstering future skills; alignment of higher education outputs in accordance to the future labor market; and an advanced and flexible national qualifications system aligned with the requirements of future economic development. "This is in addition to a sustainable service system for people of determination, starting from early detection to leading the future, and a proactive holistic system for nurturing talent that stimulates production and competitiveness, and finally, well-being and sustainable quality of life in learning environments," he added.

Meanwhile, Birgit Lao, Ambassador-at-large for education, Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, talked about students’ wellbeing during era of hybrid learning. She also highlighted how the Estonian education system survived the remote learning challenges brought about by COVID-19.

During her presentation, she shared a study conducted in Estonia during the pandemic that focused on wellbeing during distance learning. She said, "More than 50 percent of the students liked distance learning, and around 24 per cent of parents noticed study difficulties. More importantly, about 87 per cent of the students solved their individual tasks."

Dr. Petar Stojanov, Global Partner, Innovation, Talent and Future Strategy at Black, noted the future of education and how technology is gradually shaping the future of education. He said, "I want to make a very productive statement as I stand here on stage at a technology education conference to tell you that technology is not the answer. But it is the enabler of it."

He further mentioned that the World Economic Forum’s top 10 important skills in the workforce are: complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, judgment and decision making, service orientation, negotiation, and cognitive flexibility. But, he said, "I would argue to all of you that these are not the skills that we’re teaching young people at the moment."

Matt Thompson, Project Director, Tarsus, organisers of the Middle East’s leading education show said welcoming all global professionals to GESS, "Today, we look to the future with optimism as we take inspiration from our speakers and experts who see a great opportunity for education to be a significant tool for transformation for progress and sustainable development.”

The event scheduled for three days features more than 140 speakers and over 150 CPD accredited sessions. The GESS’s edition for this year is scheduled on November 14 to 16, 2021 at Zabeel Halls 4, 5 & 6 of the DWTC. The event is free to attend for education professionals, also featuring the latest education-focused products and solutions from over 400 local and international companies from over 30 different countries. It will have dedicated country pavilions like the UK, Germany, India and Korea.

WAM