Moza Ahmed, a Grade 12 student at the American School of Creative Science in Nad Al Sheba, has been selected for the inaugural Global Youth Council Fellowship. She joins a founding cohort of 16 to 18-year-olds from around the world for a year of mentoring, collaborative projects and an international summit.
Her selection follows a year as the first chairperson of the Dubai Students Council. KHDA launched the council under the City of Students initiative, part of Dubai’s Education 33 strategy, to give students a direct line to the regulator.
The numbers tell you how much that role carried. Ninety private schools put forward nominations. Sixteen students from 16 schools were chosen, covering six curricula and nine nationalities. Between them, they spoke for nearly 400,000 students in Dubai’s private schools.
In their first year, council members held 16 planning meetings, launched platforms to gather student feedback and started a monthly newsletter for the wider student community.
Moza says the experience changed how she thinks about student voice.
“Representing nearly 400,000 students showed me the incredible diversity of voices, perspectives, and aspirations that make up Dubai’s student community,” she said. “It taught me that meaningful participation is not only about listening to young people, but also about trusting them and giving them genuine responsibility.”
That point is worth sitting with. Many schools have a student council. Far fewer hand students real responsibility.
“The Dubai Students Council gave me a voice, but more importantly, it taught me what that voice can represent,” Moza added.
As a founding member of the fellowship, she will help shape the Global Youth Council in its early stages. She sees it as a two-way exchange. “It is also a chance to learn from young people around the world while sharing Dubai’s experience with them,” she said.
Her principal, Sarah Hollis, said the school is proud to see her take that experience further. “She will be an outstanding ambassador for Emirati students and for Dubai’s commitment to empowering young people and involving them in shaping the present as well as the future.”
T4 Education said Moza was chosen after a highly competitive admissions process. The fellowship focuses on leadership, communication, collaboration and community engagement.
