The Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) on Monday started a four-day professional development week with an aim to help as many as 15,668 educators in the Abu Dhabi region become 21st century teachers.

The training programme will cover the Capital, Al Ain and the Western Region and seeks to improve quality of education across schools, as well as offer special instructions to principals, teachers, administrative assistants, secretaries, classroom assistants, special needs classroom assistants, facilities coordinators, laboratory technicians, learning resource specialists, psychologists, registrars, school business coordinators and social workers.

Adec director-general Dr Ali Al Nuaimi and Adec school operations executive director Mohamed Al Dhaheri attended the first workshop. Also, 324 principals and vice-principals were given an overview of the Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS) UAE Pilot Project, Adec’s P-12 curriculum Trimester-II and assessment and performance appraisal for Trimester-II.

Al Nuaimi said Adec is focusing on offering educators the most updated teaching and learning methods that will help them offer top-class education to students.
“Our educators play a pivotal role in reforming education while transferring the needful information to our youth,” he said.

Highlighting the role of teachers, Al Nuaimi said they play an important role ‘day in, day out’.
It is their hard work and efforts that result in a competent, well-equipped generation of youth.

“You are the most important individuals in the education sector, which is why this professional development week is organised for you,” he added.

Al Dhaheri stressed the importance of getting the teachers licensing requirements, which cannot be accomplished without proper professional development that assist educators to deliver 21st century teaching and learning skills.

“Adec has worked tediously with the professional development team to ensure our educators receive valuable information and learning that help benefit them and our children in classrooms, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with schools to ensure our educators are offered best teaching and learning methods.”

This week, school leaders, teachers and academic quality improvement officers will  be trained to receive the students for trimester two, some of which includes introducing the recently announced federal teacher licensing requirements to school leaders and cluster managers; the online performance appraisal system and requirements for trimester two, and curriculum and assessment updates.

Cycle 3 (Grade 10 to 12) English coordinators will receive training to use National Geographic textbooks. IT and DTI teachers in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will receive two-day training for Cyber Cycle 3 Certification in cyber security from the National Electronic Security Authority.