The school has an aim to reach one million students in five years…

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has launched the Digital School – an initiative that will provide certified online education to students who have no access to education.

The digital school will provide a personalised and flexible remote learning experience to students anywhere in the world. It is the first comprehensive digital school in the Arab region.

The tweet by Sheikh Mohammed stated that the initial trial will start with 20,000 students with an aim to reach one million students by the year 2026.

The Ruler of Dubai also stated, ‘There are millions of children across the world with no access to education due to war and conflict. If we didn’t try to address this knowledge gap, we will fail to give our future generations a healthy environment to grow up in and contribute to their societies.’

The launch of the Digital School will support disadvantaged students at a time when the outbreak of Covid-19 has affected education throughout the world and forced a shift to online learning. Students in developing countries took the biggest hit due to the lack of resources and learning alternatives provided to them.

About the Digital School

Digital school Sheikh Mohammed

The Digital School will be launched under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) and will empower students living in refugee camps and marginalised communities.

The initiative’s implementation will be overseen by experts from leading global universities including Harvard, Stanford, New York and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The classes will use cutting-edge technology and Artificial Intelligence to help students enhance self-learning and skill development. It will blend live and virtual classes in Math, Science, Arabic, Computer Studies and English. The virtual classrooms will enable students to interact with their teachers and learners from all over the world.

The school will coordinate with education ministries and other entities in the region to establish an accreditation model for digital education and provide curricula aligned with the national education system. The credentials will be globally transferrable and can be added to the student’s portfolio as a proof of achievement when applying for future university or making a job application.

The initial stage of the initiative will operate from November 2010 to August 2021. It will have 20,000 participating students in four countries and three virtual classes will take place a week over the course of three months.

Adjustments and developments will be made to the system based on feedback from this stage after which the digital school will officially begin its first academic year in September 2021.

Images: Sheikh Mohammed Twitter