Qatar- First Assalam School records successful transition

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, through First Assalam School (FAS), has reported its successful transition from the academic year 2019-20 to 2020-21.
FAS was established in 2019 under the EAA's Together Project in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the General Directorate of Endowments under the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and the Pakistan Welfare Forum.
The school provides access to education for children facing financial barriers, age or educational gaps.
Families can apply for their children that are currently not enrolled in schools to attend FAS, and return to formal education.
As students at FAS, children benefit from the school's tailored programmes to cover educational gaps due to being out of school.
Talal al-Hothal, director of the EAA's Al Fakhoora programme, said: 'The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has created additional challenges to learning for children around the world, particularly for the most marginalised who face greater barriers to accessing education.
'Despite the challenge to transition to online education almost overnight, the EAA's First Assalam School managed to ensure continuous access to education through a full digital transition, including virtual support by teaching staff and the delivery of work packs to students.
Director of the General Directorate of Awqaf, Dr Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Ghanem al-Thani, said: 'It was the commitment and collaboration towards a shared goal, bringing quality education to all children in Qatar, that paved the way to this success.
'We look forward to continuing our support for Education Above All Foundation and the First Assalam School, to positively impact the lives of children in Qatar.
During the 2019-20 school year, First Assalam School recorded a retention rate of 96%, out of which 94% of students passed their current grades.
In preparation for the new 2020-21 academic year, the school completed its digital transition to Google Classroom as the primary learning platform to deliver feedback, complete assessments and follow tutorial videos, while safeguarding the health and safety of students and teachers.
The transition was aided by the EAA's donation of 529 new laptops for teachers and students, followed by a donation of 473 Wi-Fi devices from Vodafone with free Internet connectivity for all students.
Following a survey conducted by the FAS management, which indicated that 93% of the beneficiary families do not have access to computers in their homes, while 70% do not have WhatsApp, students and their families received training and video tutorials for the use of provided laptops and Google Classroom as part of the e-learning transition.
FAS also invested in digital education for its teachers, making it the only educational establishment in the Mena region to achieve the Google Educator Level 1 standard for all teaching staff.
Hameed Alam, principal of First Assalam School, said: 'Through the hard work and dedication of our staff, as well as stakeholders, we can be truly proud of the powerful progress made in these difficult times to address the educational needs of our students.
'With technology-fuelled blended learning, we were able to not only teach students to read and write, but also instil them with confidence and life-long learning habits.
Through the Assalam Schools, the Qatar-based initiative aims to enrol children from low-income families.
To date, the EAA's Together Project has ensured educational access for more than 2,187 children.

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