The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) held orientation sessions for Grade 10 and 11 top performing students who are due to travel to various destinations as part of H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed’s grant for the 2015 academic school year via the Summer Abroad Program.
The program is a generous grant of H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of ADEC.
Parents, chaperons and providers involved with the program attended the sessions, in order to be briefed on the applicable procedures and mandates.
A number of 500 Abu Dhabi school students were selected to join the program this year. The program, which is organized for the 10th year in a row, includes 395 male students and 105 female students. Grade 10 and Grade 11 students will fly to Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. They will study English and leadership skills for a period of five weeks from 18/7/2015 until 21/8/2015.
Mr. Ahmad Al-Shamsi, ADEC’s General Services Division Manager and the Project Manager said that the Program reflects the great support provided by Abu Dhabi’s prudent leadership for students. “The program will help our students improve their academic and personal experience and skills. It will also give them a chance to be self-dependent, allow them to enhance their English language, leadership skills, closely interact with other cultures and explore various educational opportunities,” he emphasized
“The number of students enrolled in the program since its launch in 2006 until 2014 has reached 4160 students in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” pointed out Mr. Al-Shamsi.
“Among the criterias governing the selection of top students was academic performance, i.e. scoring 85% or more, their behavior at school and participation in extracurricular activities,” added Mr. Al-Shamsi.
The orientation programs organized in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain included several workshops to introduce students to their destinations, training program, accommodation, excursions, hosting families in addition to their obligations & responsibilities while abroad. The chaperons accompanying the students act as a link between ADEC & students and will be reporting on student progress through ADEC’s portal on weekly basis.
Male students will stay among carefully selected host families in order to improve their English language skills through immersion into the local community of the country of destination, while the girls will reside in the university campus at their chosen city.
Moreover, a full program will be offered to students including visiting educational, cultural and touristic sites, under the supervision of their chaperons. All students will be assessed after completion of the program to measure the level of achieving its set goals and objectives.
The Summer Abroad Program was first introduced in 2006 in accordance with H.H. Sheikh Mohamed’s vision to develop students’ skills and improve their learning outcomes, while boosting their self-confidence and independency. A number of 60 students were sent to Australia back then and the number of students rose to become 500 students sent annually to five different countries.
ADEC
