Maliha Ahad, Director of AIM Middle East, in an exclusive interview with Edarabia, discusses why professional development courses are essential for early childhood education and how developing skills of the local workforce can address the shortage of quality teaching staff in the UAE.
1. How does the UAE lead the way in early childhood education? How does AIM Middle East contribute to this achievement?
The UAE was perhaps the first country in the MENA region to recognize the critical importance of early years education for providing the foundation for lifelong curiosity and critical thinking, and shaping and forming the contours of confident and vibrant future citizens. The UAE is benchmarked with a high NER (net enrollment ratio) in early childhood education and continues to strive to encourage diversity and improvement in the overall quality of early childhood education.
The country has always been the first in the region to align its policies and standards with the best global practices. The regulatory bodies have raised the bar through an ongoing process of identification of areas that require improvement, the setting of standards and policy framework and continuous assessment and alignment. Today, the UAE is leading the way in upholding Early Childhood standards for quality environments by focusing on Health & Safety, Learning Outcomes, Teacher Competency and Qualifications and Child Protection and Safeguarding.
At AIM Middle East, we are committed to the UAE’s vision of quality education that is in line with 21st century learning. We believe in inspiring, motivating and energizing educators with a view to enhancing and developing their skill set in order to enrich the student learning experience.
When we started out with our programs 3 years ago, we made a commitment to ensure ‘quality’ remained at the forefront of what we do. Our program content is contemporary and is able to reflect the needs of this region – we work with the best available global talent and resources to ensure we are able to deliver the best international practices, latest research and innovative solutions.
Our trainers are all highly qualified and along with a degree in Early Childhood Education, they are required to have extensive industry experience both as an educator as well as an adult trainer, both internationally as well as in the UAE. This is critical, as they need to understand the unique teaching requirements of this country.
We have integrated a hybrid model of face-to-face teaching with an advanced technology platform to ensure we are providing our female-oriented segment with the flexibility of time and also a more transparent grading structure. Our trained teachers are now successfully working in schools and nurseries across the UAE and are making the necessary changes and improvements in their respective environments.
We aim to transform education, one step at a time.
2. Having spent years in the education industry, what have you learned and what are your plans for AIM Middle East?
Learning is a journey and it never stops. We are all lifelong learners and in this extremely information led age, we literally have the world at our fingertips and access to some of the most recent research in education.
The role of teachers is more encompassing now and they wear multiple hats. They are not only imparting knowledge and skills to our children; they are also parenting, counselling, befriending and teaching their students life skills. With children growing up in a world that is very different from the one we grew up in, we as educators need to embrace the ‘newness’ of it all. We need to be able to embed the pillars of classic educational practices within the strategies that make learning relevant today. This requires continuously looking for ways to improve ourselves and acquire new knowledge.
At AIM Middle East we will continue to strive to improve and adapt with the times. Our research teams are continuously introducing fresh ideas and the latest early years research in our programs. Our plans for 2019 include working with partners in the region to expand our presence and ensure that our programs are reaching as many educators as possible.
3. In your opinion, what are the key issues/challenges involving teaching recruitment in the UAE’s current education landscape?
With a steady increase in the opportunities and expansion of the education sector, one of the common challenges across all levels of education remains the gap between the demand and supply of quality teaching staff. The regulatory authorities are playing their part in raising the bar to align teacher competency standards across all levels of education. It is now increasingly difficult to hire individuals who do not comply with those standards.
To counter this, there needs to be an emphasis on developing the skills of the local workforce that is comparable to international benchmarks. There also needs to be a commitment from all educational stakeholders to continually invest in training and development of the people they already have.
4. Can you tell us more about your session at GESS titled “Operational Excellence in Diverse Environments”?
To quote the National Education Association (USA) “Diversity can be defined as the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different. The dimensions of diversity can include race, ethnicity, language, culture, religion, etc… The way that people react to diversity is driven by values, attitudes, and beliefs.”
Achieving operational excellence in diverse environments is about understanding that ‘different is good’; giving oneself to the process of assimilation; learning something new every day and committing oneself to make it work. However, everyday reality can bring about unique situations and challenges that need to be addressed. The session looked at cultural competence, responsiveness and community involvement.
The UAE is a unique environment to work in, with a multitude of nationalities, languages and cultures co-existing in harmony. It is a wonderfully enriching experience for us and for our children, promoting personal growth and tolerance. As educators, we need to embrace that diversity and make it work for us.
Maliha Ahad is the founder of AIM Middle East in UAE. AIM is an educational consulting and training organization providing contemporary, pedagogical, and research based educational services, since 2013.
After more than 20 years of diversified marketing experiences in country and regional roles with global leaders like Procter & Gamble, 3M, Walt Disney and Saatchi & Saatchi; Maliha made an inspiring move to the entrepreneurial world and started her own company. With a strong and successful marketing and management career, Maliha was drawn to fulfilling a more personal goal of furthering quality educational experiences for the future citizens of the world.
Maliha remains committed to the vision of quality education that is in line with 21st century learning, and in inspiring, motivating and energizing educators, with a view to enriching children’s learning experience. Maliha speaks at various regional events on the importance of Early Childhood Education, and she is a regular speaker and awards judge at GESS Dubai. Maliha was a member of the Advisory Council of the Collegiate American School for the last 5 years, and is continually striving to improve student outcomes and the overall learning experience.
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