The Federal Youth Foundation organized a debate on "Self-Education or Academic Education, Which is More Effective to Build the Skills Needed for the Future of the UAE's Economy", for a group of young Emiratis on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Minister of State for Youth Affairs Shama Al Mazroui, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences Sara Al Amiri and Head of Hyperbolic Transfer Technology Pipipop Grista participated in the judging panel to assess the performance of the two teams in the debate and determine the basis of each team based on scientific foundations, studies and research in their discussions.
"Self-learning and academic education is a priority for young people, and this support is due to our leadership, which is working hard to build the youth generation and equip them with learning by achieving the best educational environments and tracking the sources of knowledge," said Shama Al Mazrouei.
She added that the youth debates work to a great extent on the power of persuasion and research, using the language of science, data and vocabulary, pointing out that the debates are designed to support dialogue skills in a civilized way, in order to prepare young people to be able to contribute to the events and discussion sessions locally and globally.
For her part, Sara Al Amiri stressed that the youth debate touched on one of the important aspects of young people's practical life in their reliance on self-education and academic education in order to achieve success in various fields, noting that they were impressed by the level of youth and their awareness of the importance of learning and acquiring skills, From schools and universities and to enhance them by acquiring life and practical experiences through experimenting and using long experience, ensuring that they have an integrated mix of academic education and self-education to achieve their goals and develop continuously.
The pro-self-learning group spoke about the importance of passion for self-education, love of reading, individual study, ability to develop individual skills and self-reliance, while the opposing team emphasized the importance of academic learning from experts and specialists in all fields. The selection of specializations appropriate to their abilities, pointing to the existence of many universities that provide a constant update in the teaching materials and new disciplines, noting that the universities and colleges provide space and general materials for students to learn public and individual learning.