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Gems of all: 37 female students honoured

Dubai - Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Awards for Excellence distributed

At a glittering ceremony, 37 female students received the 10th Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Awards for Excellence on Monday.
Running consecutively for the 10th year, the Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Awards was created by GEMS Education in honour of Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the UAE, Chairperson of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, for her contributions to the empowerment of women in the UAE.
This year, 37 girls - who keep an unfaltering belief that 'educating girls will change the world'- from across different GEMS schools were honoured with the excellence prize at the Dubai Modern Academy on Monday.
The awards were presented by Shaikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.
Speaking at the event, Shaikh Nahyan said: "The 21stC world needs the most enlightened and sensible leadership that it can find. You, the extraordinary young women today represent fully half of that world, potentially half of the world's leadership."
Also speaking at the event, Sir Christopher Stone, Chief Education Officer, MENASA, GEMS Education said: "These girls are an inspiration to all of us and we are happy to be able to celebrate the development of our young future leaders and their valuable contributions to society."
Winners speak
The students were extremely thrilled to be honoured with the award. Michelle Thomas, 17-year-old Grade 12 student of The Millennium School, echoed the oft-quoted statement - "If you educate a man, he will feed his family. But if you educate a woman, she will feed the entire community" - to express her joy.
Sneha Janardhan, 10-year-old student of Jumeirah Primary School said that a strong education base is the only thing that can serve and help the future generations. Safa Taher Alavi from Al Khaleej National School, Dubai said: "I understand that even though I am one person, I know that I can and will make a difference."
Another student, Isbah Bandeali, 17, of GEMS Wellington School, said that this is a proud moment as she was able to fulfill her mother's wish.
Roshni Ravi from GEMS Metropole School, Dubai, said: "I hope to work towards a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle."
Behshid Behrouzi from The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, quoted her role model Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook: 'In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders' .
Student from GEMS American Academy in Abu Dhabi, Anna Bohning, 16, said that she believes in education for women, adding, "I believe every girl must be given the equal opportunity to education."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com