Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and Intel Train 170,000 Arab Teachers in Less than Two Years  

Trained Teachers Poised to Act as Change Agents for Evolution of Quality in Regional Education Sector 

Dubai: 12 September, 2009 -  The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and Intel Corporation today announced the Intel® Teach Programme across the Arab World has achieved significant results over the past 18 months, successfully training and empowering over 170,000 K-12 teachers to integrate 21^st century skills, project-based learning and educational technologies into their teaching.  

The progress marks the Foundation’s objective of improving the quality of education by extending the Intel® Teach Programme throughout the Arab World and training over two million teachers by 2011.  

Sultan Lootah, Acting Vice-President - Knowledge and Education Sector, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, said: “In the first half of this year, the programme has successfully trained over 40,000 teachers in Egypt, 10,600 in Jordan, and almost 11,000 in Saudi Arabia. We are proud of the joint success achieved and are pleased with the efforts put in by all the team members involved at Intel as well as at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.”  

Ahead of its forthcoming launch in the UAE, the programme is aiming to fill the gap that exists in technology adoption by the region’s educational sector. 

Among the project’s strategic milestones is the successful training of a large number of Master Trainers in countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Master Trainers will, in turn, train thousands of teachers, who will positively impact the quality of education in the respective countries over the coming years. 

The Programme’s achievement in Palestine is one of the early outcomes of an MoU signed in May 2009 with the Palestinian Ministry of Education at the World Economic Forum in Jordan. Through its participation in the programme, the Foundation aims to enable teachers to prepare the Palestinian youth for assuming responsibilities of citizenship and good governance. 

Ferruh Gurtas, Intel Corporate Affairs Group Director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region said: “We are excited about the possibilities of reaching millions of Arab children through the Intel Teach Programme and firmly believe that organizations such as Intel and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation have a key role to play in societal transformation. Young people are the key to solving global challenges.  A solid math and science foundation coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and digital literacy are crucial for their success. That is why Intel is directly involved today in education programmes, advocacy, and technology access to inspire tomorrow’s innovators.” 

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation’s collaboration with Intel Corporation aims to extend the Intel Teach Programme throughout the Arab World for training two million K-12 teachers to be more effective educators, integrate technology into their lessons, and promote 21st century skills of problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration among students. 

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is a non-profit organisation that aims to offer development opportunities through investing in resources that can build knowledge skills in the region. With a US $10 billion personal endowment by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Foundation seeks to finance several projects and programs in the Arab World that focus on its three core sectors.