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'Equip children to face challenges'

Dubai - One of the biggest challenges in the field of early education is the lack of good teachers, says expert.

Early years' teachers are looked upon as caretakers in the region, whereas essentially they need to be teachers who are highly qualified, said Sarah Rogers, CEO of Early Years' Education Services. Rogers stated that one of the biggest challenges in the field of early education is the lack of good teachers, and good quality early years educators are very expensive.
Rogers was speaking at the Education Investment Mena forum at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dubai on Monday. The two-day forum played host to several industry leaders, policy makers and technology providers in the field of education.
The sessions paid close attention to innovation in education with Dr Wafi Dawood, Chief of Strategy, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) giving the inaugural address. He discussed the urgent need for innovation in the field of education.
Keynote speaker, education evangelist, structural reformist, and writer/author of the concept Learning Reimagined Graham-Brown Martin also said there is an urgent need to remove the concept of 'studying for tests from modern schools.'
He also touched upon the subject of a global shortage in teachers, the problem with limited Arabic digital education content, and providing people in poorer areas with the provision to access affordable digital content. "Is education all about getting into a good university? Get into school, get good grades, and get into a good Western University. The current education structure has been designed around this ideology," said Martin.
Rogers said: "If we want to have lifelong learners, we have to start young. Early years' learners already possess 21st century skills and the success of a child can be measured by their ability to solve problems."
Experts were speaking about '21st century learning in the global and Arab context', wherein some speakers raised the several challenges faced by educators, parents and students in the Arab world. For example, Nafez Dakkak, Director, Edraak, an online education portal with 400,000 registered learners raised the issue of very little relevant Arab content online.
Professor Lance de Masi, President, American University of Dubai said assessment methods have not changed in the last 15-20 years. He said: "There is something fundamentally wrong in that system, but there is also a will to resolve that contradiction."
He added: "There is no doubt that universities are setting the pace for modern education, but the pace we're setting is changing rapidly. SATs are being treated in a very different way from the way it used to be treated."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com