The UAE places considerable emphasis on digital learning and technology, and helps its people to be conversant with this means of savviness. The best part is that the commitment is not limited to the well-off students in schools, colleges or universities, or even professionals. It is also reaching out to the underprivileged in refugee camps who would love to have access to digital technology but cannot afford it. In this respect, there is some heartening news now. A digital school that seeks to provide digital learning for refugees in the Emirati-Jordanian Mrajeeb Al Fhood Camp announced the launch of its pilot stage in preparation for seeing the first batch of pupils join the school’s portal in September 2021.

Primary school pupils will participate in the pilot which is organised by the Digital School in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Jordan, the UAE Embassy in Jordan and the Emirates Red Crescent.

The students will have access to digital learning material under the supervision of a specialist team that includes members from the Digital Learning Future Alliance to support the establishment of the Digital School Initiative.

The Alliance brings together education experts and education specialists from prestigious international universities and academic institutions, and supports the Digital School Initiative. This is one of the projects of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and the first integrated and accredited Arab digital school that provides remote education in a smart and flexible way for students of various social, economic and educational levels. And from any country in the world.

The alliance also integrates with the efforts of the digital school to provide education of all stages to students around the world, with a focus on needy students, such as refugees or those in disadvantaged regions and societies.

Last year, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Digital School, an initiative that aims to provide certified online education to students across the world, primarily those belonging to underserved communities.

The Digital School was created primarily to empower refugees and underserved students.

Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, said education is the key to providing children a brighter future.

“There are refugee children who do not have access to an education and this is a challenge His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, wants to overcome. If we want to change the future of the Middle East, we have to provide them with an education,” he said.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, MBRGI, is doing stellar service by providing high-tech offline educational solutions to Jordan’s refugee camps amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, as part of the “Madrasa for 1,000 villages”, the MBRGI equipped about 400 students and 11 teachers at the Al Azraq Refugee camp and King Abdullah Park Refugee camp in Jordan with offline solutions to access over 5,000 high-tech science, mathematics and Arabic video lessons without the need for internet access.

In collaboration with the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, the mission saw the distribution of four innovative offline solutions, including Madrasa tablets, Wi-Fi hotspot devices, Madrasa flash memory (USB) and Madrasa Smart Bag, to ensure a rich virtual learning experience in remote areas and refugee camps.

The benefits are all tangible, particularly to those with disabilities. Eight-year-old Eman, a Syrian, who lives with a hearing impairment at the Al Azraq Refugee camp in Jordan was among the beneficiaries who received her own Madrasa tablet. With no access to education since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Eman is now able to learn sign language and lip-read with the help of her teacher.