H.H. Sheikh Mohammed launches digital school for underprivileged students

A new digital school project has been launched in Dubai with the aim of educating one million underprivileged children over the next five years.

In an announcement on Twitter, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the initiative will provide smart education to students wherever they are.

"There are millions of children across the world with no access to education due to war and conflict. If we didn’t try to address this knowledge gap, we will fail to give our future generations a healthy environment to grow up in and contribute to their societies, His Highness explained.

The project, led by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, offers flexible distance learning to students around the world.

It will work with international organisations to obtain academic accreditation for its curricula.

The first batch of pupils is expected to join www.thedigitalschool.org in September 2021, while its trial phase has already launched with 20,000 students.

There are millions of children across the world with no access to education due to war and conflict. If we didn’t try to address this knowledge gap, we will fail to give our future generations a healthy environment to grow up in and contribute to their societies. pic.twitter.com/5wCRplCiTb

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 11, 2020

Initiative’s implementation will be overseen by an advisory board that includes experts from leading global universities including Harvard, Stanford, New York and MIT.

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) November 11, 2020

Dr. Waleed Al Ali, General Coordinator for the digital schools initiative at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, spoke to ARN News.

Dr. Al Ali also shared the details of the ‘Alliance for the Future of Digital Learning’, which was announced on Tuesday.

He said the alliance aims to find ways to support and advance digital education systems globally.