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Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, revealed the university’s launch of its new strategy for the period 2024-2026, which includes 6 transformational projects that it intends to implement over the next ten years, namely: Skills Bank, Research Center for Excellence in e-Learning, Adaptive Learning, International Center for Excellence and Classification of e-Universities, the university’s corporate identity, and the Government Resource Planning System.
He confirmed to“The Statement” These projects aim, in their entirety, to support the objectives of the Dubai Agenda D33, which is based on several goals, including achieving the most capable educational system to keep pace with Dubai’s future ambitions, enhancing its human capital, and advancing education at all levels by raising quality and providing diverse educational platforms and alternatives that provide students with diverse skills and capabilities for the future.
Professional and academic partnerships
Dr. Al Awar explained that the university intends to implement three projects during its three-year plan for the period 2024-2026, which are: establishing a research center for electronic excellence, the adaptive learning project, and the university’s corporate identity.
He also stated that within the university’s three-year plan and within the professional and academic partnerships, there will be the establishment of three new colleges, namely: the College of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation in partnership with global technology companies, the College of Sustainability and Green Economy in cooperation with leading bodies and companies in the sector, and the Global Commodities Academy in cooperation with leading bodies in the sector.
He said that these colleges will rely on an innovative educational approach that adopts the principle of lifelong learning to reach all members of society, noting that they will not initially offer academic certificates, but rather certificates or achievement badges, each of which requires between 4 and 8 educational hours, to keep pace with the requirements of the changing labor market.
He pointed out that obtaining a set of achievement certificates allows its holder, within the first level, to obtain a mini-certificate, and in turn, a set of them allows its holder to qualify to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
He said that the first stages of achievement certificates do not require conditions for admission, but if the student decides to obtain an academic certificate, the admission conditions set by the Ministry of Higher Education must be met.
5 pillars
He said that the new vision of the university is to become a globally prestigious university and an innovative educational platform for developing the skills of those aspiring to a distinguished professional future. This phrase includes 5 basic pillars that the administration is adopting as an action plan for the next stage, which are: obtaining international recognition, enhancing innovation, becoming a regional and international center for digital higher education, lifelong learning, and continuous improvement of skills. He pointed out that the university seeks to provide unique opportunities for lifelong learning.
Dr. Al Awar pointed out that the vision and mission of the university carry four added values for the Emirate of Dubai in particular, and for the United Arab Emirates in general, represented by electronic academic excellence, meaning providing this type of education with high quality and in line with the fourth goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is to provide good quality education that is comprehensive, fair and equal for all.
He said: “Among the values that the new strategic framework will add to the university is introducing new concepts for academic work in the UAE, which is the business approach, by transforming into an academic business institution, and making the university the preferred partner for digital education for all parties, including the private sector, which contributes to its growth regionally and globally.”
The President of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University stressed that it is time to change the methods of evaluating students in line with modern technologies such as ChatGPT and others, as student evaluation methods are no longer based on the content and level of the student’s memorization, on which most traditional standard exams are based, but rather have become dependent on the student’s thinking skills.
He stated that Hamdan Smart University seeks to establish a centre of excellence in pioneering ideas for sustainable education that anticipates the future of higher education globally, in cooperation with partners.
Regarding the adaptive learning project, he explained that it is “equitable education according to the United Nations’ definition of good education, and is represented in providing education that adapts according to the learner’s skills, abilities and desires,” noting that this platform will transform education from being a service to a benefit that everyone receives, indicating that smart education is fair education, while traditional education is equal education.
He explained that the platform will contain two portals, one of which is the knowledge portal, which is concerned with introducing the student to new topics, and the second is the skills portal, noting that when the student accesses the platform, a test is conducted to determine his cognitive abilities, on the basis of which his level, the required paths and their duration are determined to complete the desired certificate.
As for the Skills Bank project, he explained that it is an educational platform that brings together higher education institutions with employers in the public and private sectors, focusing on scientific specializations and the skills of each specialization related to the academic program. The university president said that the research center project aims to make Dubai a pioneer in the process of developing teaching methods, using artificial intelligence technology.
