She emphasized the importance of preparing schools to implement the remote education model in case of emergency

Education and Knowledge calls for private schools to assess their technical needs

The Department affirmed the importance of continuing to implement distance education programs to enhance future readiness.

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The Department of Education and Knowledge emphasized the importance of all private schools operating in the emirate ready to move to the distance education system completely, in the event of an outbreak of the "Covid-19" virus, or other public health emergencies, based on the instructions received from it, indicated in the guide Policies and guidelines for reopening private schools in the emirate to the need for private schools to evaluate their technical needs for education (applications, educational platforms, and visual communication tools), based on the experience of distance education.

In detail, the head of the Department of Education and Knowledge, Sarah Muslim, emphasized that the safety of students and school personnel is crucial, and that the department has conducted extensive research on experiences of reopening schools around the world, in addition to surveying the opinions and analyzes of school leaders, teachers and parents, and identifying challenges through groups. Consultation and questionnaires. These efforts have enabled her to define her objectives by developing policies and guidelines, which will ensure that this process is as smooth as possible, and at the same time flexible to accommodate the specificity of each school and meet its requirements.

The Department of Education and Knowledge urged private schools to reassess their technical needs for education (applications, educational platforms, and visual communication tools), based on the distance education experience that schools implemented during the past academic year, taking into account the observations of teachers, educational leaders and parents, by developing a plan Clear implementation of distance education, in the event of an outbreak of the disease again, including technical educational programs and means that must be used, creating accounts for teachers and students as needed, planning to start distance education, as well as communicating with parents, and appointing coordinators for information technology through assigning Existing employees with these additional tasks, or by hiring specialized new employees to support any IT issues that teachers, students or parents may face, to enable them to continue the teaching and learning process from home.

The department indicated the importance of seeking the assistance of a specialist in information technology, to provide training programs for teachers and students on how to use the electronic platforms applied by the school if the need arises, and to maintain electronic security and the privacy of students, teachers and administrative bodies, pointing to the need for private schools to conduct a comprehensive assessment of risks for all technology tools It publishes or intends to circulate it, and develop procedures to mitigate risks wherever they are found.

The department pointed out that the risk assessment can be conducted with the support of program developers and developers of the current educational platform, provided that it is under the supervision of the school administration. Schools should also inform employees, parents and students of the results of risk assessment and mitigation measures, while clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all concerned, in addition to implementing schools. Conducting educational sessions appropriate for students' ages on how to safely surf the Internet, while allowing schools to use several platforms and resources to circulate and disseminate this awareness on a large scale, and to hold training courses on safety and electronic security for students.

The department confirmed that its Education Quality Assurance and Supervision Office shared the results of the distance education evaluation process, during the third semester of the last academic year, with schools, and based on these results, schools must develop an action plan to develop areas that need improvement, which Concerning the manner in which distance education programs are presented and presented, noting that schools are also required to conduct internal evaluations of their own distance education programs, through questionnaires of parents and questionnaires of teachers and students.

And she stressed the importance of continuing to apply distance education programs to enhance readiness for the future, while allowing private schools freedom to choose the duration, teaching materials, educational approach, and the most appropriate technical tools to present their programs through electronic platforms, and to ensure that students, who receive their full education, are After during the first semester, they receive the necessary support to be able to interact with their teachers and peers just like other students.

Additional support

The Department of Education and Knowledge confirmed that private schools will conduct an evaluation of students, to find out the extent of their benefit from the offered programs, and to determine the areas in which they need additional support, to compensate for the loss of educational achievement due to the closure of the school and remote education during the last academic year.

Schools will focus on basic subjects during the next phase, and all other non-essential subjects will be integrated into the math and reading and writing classes as much as possible.

The department stressed that private schools in the emirate will remain in constant contact with students' families, through weekly newsletters, text messages, or emails, as all meetings and discussions with staff and management will be remote.

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