8th World Education Summit kicks off

Manama, Mar. 8 (BNA): The eighth edition of ‘World Education Summit (WES)', jointly organised by the Bahrain Bayan School and Elets Technomedia, kicked off here today under the theme "ICT and Creativity for a Better Future". Attracting a host of international education experts, intellectuals and industry leaders, as well as representatives of 35 public and private schools and higher education institutions, the two-day event provides a platform for discussing issues related to developing education, encouraging students to join the entrepreneurship field, in addition to reviewing successful international experiences in this regard. Opening the education summit, the Education Minister, Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Noaimi, said the kingdom has, thanks to the support of its leadership, attained honourable achievements, particularly regarding the use of ICT in education through the King Hamad Schools of the Future Project, launched in 2005, and the Digital Empowerment in Education project. He highlighted the Education Ministry's keenness to consolidate digital education communication between schools, students and parents in order to support the efforts being exerted by the kingdom to turn into the knowledge-based economy. The minister also stressed that Bahrain's interest in promoting e-learning has reached international level, citing the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education. Regarding the encouragement of students to join entrepreneurship, Dr. Al-Noaimi affirmed that Bahrain has made major strides, especially through cooperation with INJAZ Bahrain to develop the skills of Bahraini students, noting that more than 100,000 students have been trained over the past years. Dr. Shaikha Mai Al Otaibi, chairperson of Bayan School, in her statement, highlighted the importance of the conference in improving the quality of education and linking to the labour market to boost effort to achieve sustainable development. Then, Dr. Ravi Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, praised Bahrain's keenness to host international educational initiatives, expressing pride in the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education. After that, the minister awarded the winners of the Elets Technomedia company's competition to encourage e-learning, and inaugurated the exhibition held on the sidelines of the summit. The expo highlighted the progress witnessed by Bahrain in various fields, especially education.