Dubai: UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, has participated in the launch of “Family First” program by GEMS Education at GEMS World Academy in Dubai.
In this revolutionary program GEMS will help underpin its long established holistic classroom learning for students across its school network.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak said that, “Family is the most important building block of a peaceful, tolerant, and prosperous society. Your work will help families promote values such as peace, tolerance, fraternity, non-violence, as well as personal and collective growth and achievement. These are values which are so important in our lives, our society, and our world today.”
“The emphasis in the Family First movement on the connection between children’s mental health and their family life is particularly important. I commend GEMS schools, under the leadership of my friend, Sunny Varkey, for taking up this important challenge. I congratulate the faculty and staff at the schools for realising their duty to engage families and to enhance their abilities to help their children live their lives with confidence and hope,” Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak added.
This movement offers GEMS families to spend more time together, exploring new frontier of experience, and tapping into the wealth of knowledge and wise counsel within the home unit that too often goes undiscovered.
A large survey on family values, a monthly TED Talk-style conversation on various facets of family support moderated by prominent international experts and advocates, and an annual gala event to honour narratives that best embody Family First principles are all planned as Family First activations for 2024.
Every GEMS school in the UAE and Qatar has already appointed a staff member as a Family First “Champion” to spearhead individual school activities based on family values.
Beginning in kindergarten, all 44 GEMS schools in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar will incorporate family values and the significance of family into their curriculum. This can take many different forms. For example, in an Islamic or Moral Studies class, it could emphasise the value of strong ethical behaviour. In a history lesson, it could involve interviewing an elderly Emirati grandparent about their childhood in the UAE in the 1950s and 1960s, as per the statement.