Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, September 11, 2019: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi has announced speakers to be hosted at Qudwa 2019. Headlining the Forum, His Excellency Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education will express the significance of Qudwa as a platform that facilitates dialogue between teachers and decision makers in the education sector to discuss the future of teaching. The third edition of the Forum is scheduled to be held on October 6 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. 

 

Held under the theme of “Teaching for Global Competence”, more than 40 local, regional and international speakers are expected to participate in the Forum, highlighting internationally-recognized best practices and teaching methods that teachers in the region can adopt in the future.

 

His Excellency Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, will be joined by other UAE speakers, including Talal Al Hashemi, National Director of Special Olympics UAE. Also scheduled to speak at the Forum is Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and of the International Education Policy Program at Harvard University. Reimers is a renowned researcher and author of 27 academic books and more than 100 articles exploring ways children and youth can achieve educational growth and prosperity in the 21st century.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Juha Kaskinen, Director of the Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) at the University of Turku, will participate at the Forum. Throughout his career, his main interests have been enhancing the subject area for futures studies, and adding valuable insights to national and international projects in teaching. 

 

Pam Grossman, Dean of the Graduate School of Education and the George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, will also participate in this year’s edition.

 

Other speakers include Loretta Claiborne, Chief Inspiration Officer and Vice Chair of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors, who has also competed in Special Olympics since 1970. Claiborne has won several medals in 26 marathons. Gilda Scarfe, Founder and CEO of Positive Action UK, an innovative and pioneering company in applied research for developing, implementing and evaluating mental strength in schools, will also participate in the Forum. Thea Myhrvold, founder and CEO of a number of award-winning and internationally recognized startups, will also speak in a session. Thea is widely known for accelerating knowledge transfer skills and enabling businesses and social bodies to take on digital transformation and global expansion. 

 

Mohamed Khalifa Al Neaimi, Director of the Education Affairs Office at the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, stated that such a distinguished list of speakers further confirms the Forum’s vital status as one of the most important UAE platforms that raises the teaching agenda. He noted that the Forum provides an environment that fosters and nurtures dialogue and communication, and that positively impacts the world’s best practices and teaching methods.

 

Al Neaimi noted that the diversity of speakers’ backgrounds and nationalities validates the value of the Forum, and aligns with its efforts to become an impactful event. Qudwa consolidates Abu Dhabi's position as a global leader in education and aligns with the objectives of the Abu Dhabi Accelerated Development Program 'Ghadan 2021”. 

 

Qudwa 2019 will bring together more than 600 UAE teachers, as well as experts and decision makers, to discuss best practices and teaching methods that positively impact teachers and enhance their skill sets—particularly in light of the increasing global challenges that this sector continues to face. Previous editions of the Forum have seen the participation of teachers, experts, opinion leaders, government officials and educational pioneers from 80 countries worldwide.