Sharjah students cruise through UAE history on heritage bus

Exhibition on wheels an instant hit among students. - Supplied photo

A heritage bus giving an insight into the rich legacy of the UAE and its past generations is getting popular among the student community in Sharjah.
In association with "UAE Innovation Week" and in collaboration with the Council of Sharjah Education, the heritage bus toured Sharjah schools on Monday to promote the heritage of the UAE.
The moving heritage exhibition features how the past generation had their education, products made of palm fronds, which illustrates the environmentally friendly practices of past generations, which the Ministry of Education is keen to promote to today's youth.
Mohammed from fourth primary grade, said: "Yes, I saw the class where my grandfather studied and how the Mutawa, which means teacher made him memorise the Quran and beat him with a stick if he didn't memorise it. "I will return to my grandfather and ask him about the Mutawa striking him," he said.
The exhibition on wheels, supported by Sharjah Institute for Heritage, also highlights the how modern life is less environment-friendly compared to past, when women worked on recycling products, especially palm products within the walls of their homes. Products were made at home and used for home furnishings, kitchenware and decorations.
The bus is equipped to show the students life through the ages and starts with the history of fragrance in order for the legacy of UAE to be preserved in children's minds for the future, and to urge members of UAE society, especially children to continue the practices of the past so that they can transfer this knowledge on to future generations.
Najla Abdullah, an English teacher, agreed that the idea of the heritage bus is innovative and a remarkable way to draw the attention of students and adds to the process of transferring information about heritage in an attractive manner.
Zekrayat Ma'touq, head of the exhibitions department at the Institute for Sharjah Heritage said: "It is in the context of our keen desire in the Institute to save the physical heritage and we have sought to reach the largest possible number of our students and hope to create an atmosphere of knowledge mixed with pleasure and interest.
"It is from the desire to reach the maximum number of students that the idea of the school bus was born, in cooperation with the Sharjah Education Council.
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