How students can achieve success in global competitions

With repeated school closures and ongoing disruptions, 2020 has been described as our most challenging year in education. However, it was also a year that highlighted the amazing strength and resilience that our students can have in the face of adversity. Throughout 2020, the majority of UAE students did not undertake normal schooling and yet they have managed to be world leaders across multiple Global Championships.

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Currently used by over 1 million students across 4,000 schools, Education Perfect (EP) is an innovative learning experience program but also the host of numerous global competitions throughout the academic year. Within EP, students are given the challenge of learning, reinforcing and revising important skills and key content within a subject during the global event, which typically sees more than 250,000 students from over 30 countries participate.  The premise of the EP events is to challenge students of all ability levels, from beginner, right through to advanced in the content and skills. Students earn points on questions correctly answered, and through clever technology, are nurtured through to mastery of each topic they complete.

Mr. J.L Swartz, STEM Leader at Emirates International School, Jumeirah, was incredibly proud of the amazing achievements of his students, coming 4th place globally in the Science Championships during August. “What I am most proud of is the self-drive, passion and commitment shown by our students from Year 7 up to Year 13. Being away on summer break, we were not sure whether many students would participate in the event. We were absolutely astonished to see the level of interest shown by our students and how their curiosity and interest developed as they attempted the questions. Judging by the feedback from students on the EP platform, they absolutely loved it since they could work at their own pace and attempt questions from topics they were interested in. Our students fell in love with doing (and learning about) science!”

Winning two years consecutively, the students at The British International School, Abu Dhabi are dedicated scholars of modern foreign languages and Arabic. However, the notable difference between 2019 and 2020 is that UAE schools dominated the majority of the top 20 spots, highlighting the commitment that UAE students have to learning the Arabic Language.

Assile Al Amili, assistant headteacher (Arabic) at BISAD, congratulated the UAE and students from BISAD on the success of 2020. “We are immensely proud of the remarkable achievement our students have made, which reflects their interest and dedication to learn the Arabic language with passion, and their love and appreciation to the Arabic and UAE culture.”

Al Rabeeh Academy, achieved 1st place in the UAE for EAL as part of the EP Northern Champs, with students achieving excellence and over 5 times more points than other schools in this subject. The dedication to master their studies and courage to try something new is one of the reasons why 6 students from ARA placed in the Top 25 globally during November 2020.

How can students be successful in online global competitions in 2021?

1. Be open-minded and willing to try new things. 

Being a part of a global competition can be an exciting opportunity to put yourself out there and try something new. Enrol in a competition where you have an opportunity to try a new language or explore a new subject you haven’t learned before.

2. Be self-motivated and self-disciplined. 

With online competitions during remote learning, there is an element of independent work and student autonomy. Students should allocate a specific amount of time each day to commit and contribute to the competition (1-2 hours). Most global competitions go for a short period of time (1 week to 1 month), so pace yourself with a few hours each day and this will allow you to have enough time to contribute meaningfully to the event.

3. Work as part of a team and support each other during the competition. 

Although there are opportunities for individual prizes and awards, many competitions also have a school trophy. Also, if you work together, support and motivate each other, you will have the opportunity to learn from each other and potentially achieve higher results.

The success of UAE students in global competitions can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of the teachers and schools in fostering a love of learning in the students.  Students across the UAE have shown remarkable resilience when it comes to their studies, yet it is their curiosity and courage to have a go that clearly shines through. The use of competitions can drive learning outcomes for students and is a powerful catalyst to encourage a sense of community across school networks and around the world.