With the IPA Middle East Seminar still fresh, and Frankfurt about to kick off, comes news of a UAE Educational Publishing Seminar in World Book Capital Sharjah’s Publishing City Free Zone to round off the month.
A joint effort by the Emirates Publishers Association, the UAE Ministry of Education and the International Publishers Association (IPA), the first of what looks likely to be an annual two-day event will run October 28-29.
The seminar will include ten discussion panels “and an array of workshops” featuring national, regional and international experts, education publishers and industry specialists, and will offer,
a platform for dialogue on the introduction of new mechanisms in the UAE’s education publishing field.
Emirates Publishers Association President Ali bin Hatim said,
In organising this important seminar, our objective is to keep the UAE’s momentum of positive transformations in the academic sector going. We also seek to increase students’ awareness by introducing more homegrown books to our school curricula. We hope to turn a new leaf in our efforts geared towards building a knowledge-based society to promote our inclusive development process, and reinforce the UAE’s culture and national identity. We are certain this seminar will have a positive impact on the realities of the UAE’s education and publishing landscape.
The seminar will offer a platform to all industry stakeholders to discuss how they can enhance partnerships to further scientific and academic development. We will be engaging in vibrant conversations about how international practices and expertise can be adapted into an actionable framework for the UAE’s curricula.
IPA President Hugo Setzer added,
We are delighted to partner with the Emirates Publishers Association for this seminar. Educational publishers have such a vital role to play if the UAE is to achieve its ambitious education objectives and this seminar promises to set out concrete actions to enable them to do that.
No details yet of the panel discussions, but safe to say we can expect digital solutions to be at the forefront, as per the digital thrust of the Middle East Seminar.
The UAE may only have 9.6 million people, but incredibly 9.5 million of them are online. That’s 98.5% internet penetration.
But the more exciting prospect here is how this Education Publishing Seminar in the UAE will ripple out across the region and across the globe in the weeks and months after the event.