Horouf Educational Publishing's initiative presented during the meeting

Sharjah, 5 October 2013 - Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group, recently met with representatives from the Sharjah Education Council to discuss the initiative that aims to support teaching in Arabic language in Sharjah schools by leveraging smart solutions, the first of its kind in the region. The meeting was held at the Executive Office of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, in presence of HE Dr Abdullah Al Suwaiji, Chairman of the Sharjah Educational Board.  

At the start of the meeting, Sheikha Bodour paid tribute to His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, for his unlimited support to education as well as his continuing directive which calls for keeping pace with the latest teaching practices and technologies to ensure the evolution of education sector and the development of faculties and students, alike, thus contributing to the national development process. She pointed to the recent support of the initiative by His Highness Ruler of Sharjah through the distribution of tablets and Horouf electronic programmes for free to preschool students in Sharjah.

During the meeting, Kalimat Publishing Group and Sharjah Education Council agreed to form a taskforce comprising of members from both parties to complete the distribution of the tablets gifted by His Highness Ruler of Sharjah to all preschool students in Sharjah's kindergartens. The task force will also coordinate with Kalimat Publishing Group in organising training courses for teachers and identifying assessment methods to achieve optimal empirical results.   

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, said: "The development of education sector is a huge responsibility that requires collective and shared efforts, as the rewards will be reaped by all. These endeavours will contribute to establishing a knowledge-based community and will serve as a catalyst and driving force for bringing about a new cultural and educational renaissance within the coming generations. To bring this ambition to life, we have developed educational programmes that will not only provide students with supplementary classroom resources, but will help students to access the required information and effectively transform theory into practice." 

Her Excellency added: "There is no doubt that the Sharjah Education Council is an important partner in developing and supporting electronic education. They have offered every possible facility to support this valuable initiative. We are looking forward, through this bilateral task force, to upgrade the educational system to keep pace with both the current technological developments as well as the requirements of future growth in the emirate and country. We will expand this model to include advanced educational grades in the near future."

In the same context, Her Excellency commended the efforts of the Sharjah Education Council in supporting development in Sharjah's schools, clarifying that the idea of Horouf Education Publishing was born in response to studies that showed that Arabic language teachers are in urgent need of educational resources that support teaching and help instil a love of the Arabic language in the hearts of children. She added that the Horouf project is composed of two initiatives: an electronic package of learning programmes that can be downloaded on the tablets and a supplementary package composed of a collection of printed books and educational resources.

HE Dr Abdullah Al Suwaiji, Chairman of the Sharjah Education Council, hailed the efforts of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi in supporting the Arabic language and education. He also expressed his delight at the Horouf project, which caters to the needs of today child. Dr Al Suwaiji stressed that the Sharjah Education Council is keen to implement such initiatives that support the Arabic language, which is a key element of the UAE's national identity and central to raising children who are proud of their Arab roots. He affirmed that the Sharjah Education Council is ready and willing to adopt this project and would offer the necessary support in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sharjah Education Zone.

Al Suwaiji clarified: "E-learning is a welcome support to educational resources, but will not be an alternative to printed educational materials. The combination of high quality electronic and printed learning materials will significantly support the educational outcomes, in general. We will have a campaign to develop education in the emirate of Sharjah in the coming few years, and Kalimat Publishing Group will play a key role in this campaign."  

Meanwhile, Kalimat Publishing Group presented the collection of printed books, specially designed and published by Horouf Educational Publishing for preschool students. The collection includes the Big Book and Imrah Series, Family Letters and Concepts, which will be available in the markets in November 2013, as part of its efforts to introduce integrated electronic and printed solutions.

The meeting between Kalimat Publishing Group and the Sharjah Education Council was attended Ms Aisha Saif, Secretary General of Sharjah Education Council, Mr Ali Al Hawsani, Director of the Department of Model Schools at the SEC, Mr Mohammed Al Mulla, Director of Sharjah Award for Excellence in Education, Ms Amani Al Ali, Manager of the Executive Office of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, and Tamer Said, Business Development Manager at Kalimat Publishing Group.

-Ends-

Terms and conditions of image use:

Based on directives of the Executive Office of HE Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, please consider the following points when using or publishing images of HE:

  • Please do not under any circumstances use any of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi's images except those approved by the HE's Executive Office, which are attached herewith.

  • The attached images of Her Excellency are for use with this press release ONLY.

  • Please do not under any circumstances use any archived images of HE Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi.

  • Please do not under any circumstances amend the image in anyway - including, but not limited, to cropping, cutting, changing the colour palette or background of the image.

  • Please do not Maximize the attached picture of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi 

For more information please contact:
Yousef Al Taweel
Sahara Communications
E-mail: yousuf@saharagcc.com
Mobile: 050 556 25 20

Fadia Daouk
Sahara Communications
E-mail:fadia@saharagcc.com
Mobile: 050 538 39 73

© Press Release 2013