'Strong, child-centric approach to education is crucial,' says Aldar Academies CEO

In an exclusive interview with Edarabia.com, Sahar Cooper, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aldar Academies, shares the new technologies being implemented at Aldar Academies’ schools and how a future-focused education benefits students.

1. What are some of the new technology and education techniques being implemented across Aldar Academies? How can students benefit from these new technologies?
We continue to invest in some of the most advanced educational technology for our curricula to help students prepare for the increasingly automated and digitized professional future ahead.

For instance, we were the first school group in the Gulf to make Minecraft Education available to students and staff as a step to elevate our STEAM-focused curricula with gamification. Similarly, we also launched the Drone Academy across all our schools this year, to help students tackle technical mathematical and scientific concepts in an engaging and immersive way. They’ve also participated in various STEAM competitions, like the annual LEGO League tournament that’s backed by the UAE’s Ministry of Education, to apply theory in a competitive environment.

Advancements like this see pupils become more involved and invested in learning about technical concepts, making them more likely to retain knowledge in areas such as physics, computer programming, engineering and other STEAM subjects. Our curriculum is designed to help students build on their natural desire to explore, to understand new topics and master theoretical subjects through practical activities. This helps them tackle challenging subjects by exercising crucial soft skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, but also encourages them to work as a team.

2. How do you implement a future-focused education system?
A priority of ours is to create structured curriculum plans centered upon the STEAM subjects. Specialist staff are employed to deliver this in the most engaging way, with the ultimate goal of instilling a love for subjects that are integral in the future jobs market.

Recently, the UAE government announced the launch of the 2031 Artificial Intelligence strategy to fast track our nation’s progress in adopting new-age technology. Today, some of the most in-demand occupations and specialties in the STEAM fields did not exist even five years ago, and the pace of change shows no signs of slowing. That makes the future somewhat uncertain. To ensure our students are prepared to thrive, we offer specialized  extracurricular activities focused on coding, gaming, ICT, and engineering across our Foundation Stages and Primary Years, to top up their skills in areas they’re passionate about.

We also see that soft-skills such as critical thinking, creativity and tolerance will be increasingly valuable to students’ futures, and nurture them through group projects, annual events and cultural awareness. Such activities have the extra benefit of developing better leadership, communication, and decision-making traits, which, when combined with theoretical expertise, meet Aldar Academies purpose of empowering the next generation to shape our future.

3. Can you tell us more about the new chartered schools?
Our appointment by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) to manage and operate Al Rayana School was a milestone moment for the capital’s education sector. As the first private education provider to take control of a government-owned school, we drew on the same uncompromising standards of educational excellence as our wider school and nursery network to uncover the potential in every student at Al Rayana School.

The school does so by teaching the American curriculum in combination with the Ministry of Education-prescribed Arabic and Islamic studies, UAE social studies, moral education and STEAM subjects, to provide students with the necessary tools to excel as leaders of the industries most significant to the UAE’s future. We look forward to launching more such educational models to help more of the nation’s next generation realise its potential.

4. Having spent more than 25 years in the education industry, what have you learned as a home-grown educator and what are your plans for the year ahead at Aldar?
Throughout my career in global education management, I’ve learnt that a strong child-centric approach to education, driven by personalised care and guidance, is crucial to helping students grow in confidence and competence. Our work at Aldar Academies is a prime example of such an approach.

For the year ahead, my priority is to maintain Aldar Academies’ own uncompromising standards while leading the evolution of our organisation to provide a relevant and effective education. My vision is to also create stronger partnerships within our community to reinforce the opportunities for future graduates to excel both here in the UAE and abroad. As our world grows more connected and globalised each day, global citizenship will remain a focal point of the Aldar Academies education.

5. Assessments are considered to have a positive impact on student achievement. How do you implement an authentic assessment strategy at schools?
Our comprehensive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for teachers is designed to evaluate students and apply teaching methodologies in creative ways to improve every students’ understanding of subjects. It is aimed at supporting teachers to empower learners to be creative and to find innovative solutions to global problems. Our assessment tools include analytics that help ensure their skills and knowledge continue to grow, and equip our teachers with the best continuing education, training and career assets available to test and assess our students.

6. In your opinion, how do schools shape and influence tolerance in the community?
Schools play an important role in nurturing young minds to be emotionally intelligent and culturally-sensitive. Across Aldar Academies’ community, our common grounds and hallways are designed to promote healthy interactions among our multicultural student-teacher bodies. Our curriculum encourages students to think critically, and have in-depth, frank discussions in the classroom about current events to generate a better understanding of the world around them. By celebrating different festivals and cultures, learning different world languages, and applying their social knowledge to authentic real-world situations, we are also able to bring more empathy into the learning experience, which is naturally carried outside of the classroom.

7. Why are vocational courses vital in shaping the UAE’s job market and how can schools contribute to that?
Career-based technical and vocational education is of utmost importance to building key skills and competencies among the future workforce, in line with the UAE Vision 2021, National Agenda that outlines the country’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. At Aldar Academies, we are focused on developing skills across a broad spectrum, including travel, the humanities, law, and music, among many others, through tactics such as competitions, events, training programmes and technical career activities. Through it all, we aim to develop a deep love for learning that helps students identify.

About Sahar Cooper
Sahar Cooper has extensive experience in global education management over a period of 25 years. She has spent the past 19 years in the UAE in various education based senior leadership roles. Sahar has extensive management experience in leading the delivery of large, complex and multi-site projects in education. She has an established track record of business performance improvement in education through operational delivery, supply chain management, risk and governance, health and safety, strategy development and execution, project management, M&A integration, facilities and asset management, talent development, succession planning and change leadership.

Prior to joining Aldar Academies, Sahar was the Chief Schools Operations Officer at GEMS Education, one of the largest K-12 private education providers globally. Her role-centred around the empowerment of schools to focus on delivering the best possible education by providing centralised operational support and commercial leadership for all non-academic group functions; focused on the alignment of strategy and programs to drive business value for internal and external stakeholders. Sahar was also responsible for the pre-operational deployment of over 50 new schools across multiple regions, ensuring each school was built with education at the forefront of the fit out, modelling and development.

Sahar was educated in the USA and attained a Master’s Degree (MBA) in International Management, graduating with honors from Southeastern University, Washington D.C.