Dubai: Two students win Global Village school scholarship worth Dh1 million for imagining better world

The grant will be applicable to the winners for the remainder of their schooling years at Bloom World Academy

Lamya Tawfik

Published: Tue 7 Mar 2023, 9:36 PM

Last updated: Wed 8 Mar 2023, 7:19 AM

Two children were awarded scholarships worth nearly Dh1 million for their ability to imagine a better future and capturing it on film.

Mark Mitryakov, 9, and Sana Sajin, 13, were crowned winners of the Young Directors Award competition in the final gala red carpet awards held at Global Village on Tuesday.

In his video Mark from Kazakhstan who won the Junior category (for ages between 5 and 10) created a video on living a healthy balanced life. “At my age, I understood how important it is to have a great balance. I want to pass this message to the world” he said in his video.

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Sana Sajin, 13, who won the Seniors category (for ages between 11 and 14) also imagined a world in which people have empathy and help one another. The protagonist in her film decided to help the cleaner in the building by placing a mat outside the main door for people to wipe their shoes before entering.

Both Mark and Sana won scholarships for the remainder of their schooling years at BWA. The Young Directors Award competition which was conducted in partnership with the Bloom World Academy (BWA) invited children between the ages of 5 and 14 to create a short video based on the theme, “My more wonderful world.”

In the 4-minute videos, the youngsters must tell the story of what they, or someone they know, would do to make the world a better place, or how they are already helping to build a more positive future.

The winners were selected by a judging panel which consisted of: Saeed Aljanahi, Director of Operations, Dubai Film & TV Commission, John Bell, Principal, Bloom World Academy, Nyla Usha, actress and host of The Big Breakfast Club on Hit 96.7, Emirati Director Nahla Al Fahad and Dubai Eye 103.8 radio presenter Helen Farmer.

“Creativity is everything for us at the Bloom World Academy. Innovation is creativity applied,” said John Bell, Principal at Bloom World Academy.

“We want to help them develop into whatever what they want to be but we’re always looking for that spark. The whole curriculum is about being creative at every opportunity,” he added.

He told Khaleej Times that they had more than 300 videos submitted for the competition. “There’s clearly a generation of young people who are ready and want to make their mark on the world. Children, generally speaking, are well aware that how they behave, how they look after the world and how they behave towards each other makes all the difference,” he said.

The message, he said, is that these children will go on to change the world. “This is the first opportunity to work with Global Village and it’s an opportunity to put Bloom Academy on the map,” he said adding that they are a school that does things differently to make a difference saying that children have choices throughout their education.

“We are so happy to see the new generation that are so creative and who want to be content creators,” said Saeed as he told the participating children that they are all winners.

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