By : Basel Khaled- Mohamed Shawky
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) has launched the Master of Education in Gifted and Talented Education program, which will be implemented this fall 2021. The program is part of HBMSU’s efforts to equip educators with advanced knowledge and skills so they can train students with exceptional talent, creativity, and determination. This is the first master’s degree in Arabic and is the only one in the UAE to be dedicated to developing the gifted and talented and is fully accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education. The program offers an exceptional opportunity to restructure the role of academia who works in the education sector to empower brilliant talents to reshape the future, in line with the directives of the UAE’s wise leadership, which is aimed at developing innovators to build a generation armed with science and knowledge.
The program, which is being offered for the first time in the UAE, adopts the ‘flexible learning’ approach, which is based on providing a ‘fully smart learning’, in a bid to establish a system capable of enabling the sector to detect and nurture talented individuals. To design this program, HBMSU created a smart and innovative method in detecting gifted and talented people, developing their capabilities, and nurturing them optimally hat keeps pace with 21st-century trends. The move aims to prepare generations of learners who can lead in terms of innovation and creative entrepreneurship, and re-engineer the future to achieve progress in all sectors in the UAE and the Arab world. The program falls within the postgraduate level, consisting of 12 specialized courses that enable graduates to take the lead to develop, execute, and assess original and modern research and produce creative projects, as well as design practical programs that can creatively and untraditionally address real-life issues related to this vital area.
Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, HBMSU Chancellor, said: “The launch of the new program is an outstanding achievement that strengthens HBMSU’s position as a driving force to enhance readiness to the future by investing in creative minds and young talents. It will promote quality education following the wise directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of the University, to empower promising talents, young minds, and entrepreneurs to excel in innovation and other intellectual and creative spheres, to play their key roles in ensuring a safer and more prosperous future for all.”
Prof. Nabil Baydoun, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in HBMSU, said “This will open promising prospects for us to continually develop rich academic content, preparing an innovative, creative, and qualified generation to keep pace with the developments of the times and meet the needs of the future. We take upon ourselves the responsibility of providing more high-quality programs that will reshape both the Arab and global education landscape according to the smart learning model. We will take advantage of our position as an academic trailblazer to transform our learners from mere recipients of knowledge into future entrepreneurs, innovators, decision-makers, and leaders.
