British Council is working in the area of special education needs (SEN) and supporting the UAE education authorities in implementing their SEN policy
The British Council is committed to and an ambassador for SEN and training, as it reflects one of our core values — “Every child matters everywhere in the world”. We positively promote a social model of inclusion, recognising and promoting that differences are a normal part of diversity, and that teaching must be adapted to the needs of the learner.
In the UAE, the British Council is one of the leading organisations supporting the UAE education authorities in implementing their SEN policy, working across policy reforms, capacity building and teaching.
For example, our resources for educators include an online SEN training course for teachers in mainstream schools, training courses held — either face-to-face, through online learning method or a combination of the two, and free online teaching resources.
‘Taqaddam’ initiative
Addressing youth employability in Middle East and North America (MENA) region is a pressing challenge, which requires government, educational institutions and businesses to come together to provide young people the skills they need to get the jobs they aspire for.
About 63 per cent of business leaders say that lack of young people with the right workplace skills is a major barrier to productivity and commercial success.
To overcome these challenges, HSBC and the British Council have developed a pilot programme, ‘Taqaddam’, based on new research around the ‘growth mindset’ that will impart 15-16 year old students the skills they need to succeed in the workplaces. Taqaddam, meaning ‘progress’ in Arabic, is an innovative programme that provides skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work.
Taqaddam is a targeted core skills initiative developed in collaboration with nine ministries of education. The course content will impart students the skills, confidence and lifelong learning to reflect the needs of the 21st century living. It is based on research, which shows that 15-16 year olds are most responsive age group to learning and developing these soft skills.
Other Initiatives
This year we are celebrating “Shakespeare Lives” as April 23rd will mark completion of 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. We’ll be delivering workshops in schools for teachers interested in learning more about teaching Shakespeare to younger generations.
You can find out more information about the global campaign here: http://www.shakespearelives.org/
