H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hosted a virtual meet yesterday to discuss the future of education in a post COVID world.

The minister, who is also Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council (EHRC), discussed job opportunities in the post COVID scenario.

The participants in the meeting discussed their experiences of developing education. The participants also spoke about how to seize the opportunities from a crisis scenario like the current COVID pandemic. The emphasis was to make the UAE ready and efficient to deal with future challenges.

Welcoming the participants, the minister highlighted how UAE is engaged in the best global practices to put people's safety first and to mitigate the crisis. At the same time, the country's leadership is working to ensure continuity in different sectors of the economy, including education.

He also shared how the government is lifting restrictions on COVID lockdown and addressing people's concerns about getting back to their usual life.

His Highness referred to how the government is working to minimize the socio-economic impact of the lockdown and, at the same cautious with lifting the restrictions.

He emphasized in post-lockdown, more cooperation for the economy and education sector is needed.

The new work culture will dwell on flexible and remote working, while the education sector will explore distance learning more.

The meeting was joined by ministers and top officials including the Chairman of Executive Affairs Authority, Abu Dhabi, Minister of Economy, Minister of Education, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization, Minister of Community Development, Minister of State for Public Education, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills.

Ten international advisors joined the meeting. They are subject matter experts and former policymakers from France, Portugal, the UK, the US, Germany, Singapore, and Peru.

The experts discussed how teaching and learning practices have changed with the outbreak of Coronavirus. A high point of discussion was distance learning, homeschooling. The experts added that while professional development has become critical, the focus should be on designing a curriculum to make remote learning possible and re-opening of schools.

Dr. Jaime Saavedra, the Director of Education, World Bank, added the digital divide in education and why teachers should not be replaced with technology.

Founder of UK-based Delivery Associates and head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, Sir Michael Barber, spoke about a mixed model for Tony Blair's administration.

Post-COVID, according to one expert from the US, robust communication should be among faculty, staff, students, parents on virtual teaching and learning. There should be the option of virtual mentoring and buddy systems. ,

Professor Steffen Hertog, from the London School of Economics, said the impact of COVID on GCC and UAE labor markets would be limited as the majority of the workforce is employed in the public sector. The crisis has impacted private sector Emiratization in short- to medium-term. Freeze on public hiring and slowing of economy will have an impact on the private sector.

The policymakers can look into various ways to close the private labor cost gap.

WAM