Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was honoured on Tuesday by the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinctive Academic Performance for his outstanding contributions to supporting education.
Shaikh Mohammad was named the distinguished personality of the year in recognition of his landmark initiatives to enhance education all over the world by the award.
The award, the first and highest appreciation medal, was presented to Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, during the award ceremony at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The ceremony, held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler and Minister of Finance, and patron of award, marked the award's 10th anniversary and the beginning of cooperation with Unesco, which will make the Hamdan Awards, which already cover the UAE, GCC and other Arab countries, internationally recognised.
Shaikh Mohammad was accorded the honour for his major initiatives and outstanding efforts to enhance education all over the world.
The initiatives included the setting up of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation with an endowment of Dh37 billion to promote knowledge infrastructure and the Dubai Cares campaign to provide opportunities of education to more than a million children around the world.
The world's first knowledge conference was also initiated by Shaikh Mohammad and held in Dubai in October, with participation of Arab intellectuals and cultural elite.
In his keynote address, Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education and Chairman of the award's Board of Trustees, said there are incredible challenges facing educationalists.
"What once was sufficient for success in our country and in the region has changed dramatically.
"It has been ten years since Shaikh Hamdan initiated this award as a means of promoting and recognising excellence in education," Dr Hassan said.
The next generation of students will face unprecedented economic, social, technical and ethical challenges, and we in the education community have the responsibility to prepare them properly... These awards serve as a stimulus to foster that type of learning and development in our students," Dr Hassan said.
During the ceremony, 139 winners of the national competitions and 17 winners of the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries' competitions were honoured.
The award was set up to improve the quality of the educational system, supporting all pre-higher educationalists as well as individuals and institutions providing education for this category. The awards are: The Distinguished Teacher, The Distinguished Student, The Distinguished Social Worker, The Distinguished Supervisor, Best Scientific Innovation, Best Applied Project and The Distinguished Parent.
By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter