The British Council and HSBC Bank Middle East celebrated the winners of their annual Taqaddam life skills programme at the Meydan Hotel in Dubai.
Now in its third year, the programme attracted its highest level of participation to date, with registrations from 380 students, an increase of 39 per cent compared to last year, representing 16 different schools.
Developed using content created by the Goodall Foundation, the thirteen-week Taqaddam programme provides 15-16 year olds a wide set of enduring personal and professional strengths and skills increasingly required in today’s rapidly changing work environment.
According to a recent report by the British Council of more than 500 business leaders in the UAE, local job seekers must have skills at the highest level in order to compete with the best talent from across the world. They must embrace STEM skills – science, technology, engineering and math – and gain fluency in English.
With the UAE Government acknowledging the importance of youth development and participation in achieving Vision 2021, the British Council says there is an increasing appetite from schools in developing resilient young people that can enter the workforce with confidence.
All Taqaddam activities are planned to provide young people with a greater understanding of life skills and to communicate and demonstrate these skills to others, including employers in the future. In their final task, students demonstrate their learning by presenting a solution to a global or social challenge affecting their community.
According to the judging panel, represented by Mo Fadallah, Founder & CEO of Baby Arabia; Dana Kamali, Senior Manager – Corporate Sustainability MENAT at HSBC and Paul Maloney, Senior Communications Manager MENA at the British Council, this year’s Taqaddam students showed strong innovation and creativity. The winning student idea was from Winchester Metropole School who aim to give your plastic a purpose with ‘The Big Bottle Bank’. The team took part in the Jebel Ali Sanctuary Marine Beach Cleanup where they were inspired to launch a school-wide project to recycle plastic bottles to produce clothes.
Finishing in second place was Al Salam private school finished in second place with their ‘Bicycle Generator’ that allows users to generate electricity whilst exercising. Joint third place was awarded to New Indian Model School who developed a smartphone app, ‘High Time’ to motivate students to achieve their goals and Gulf Indian School aim to change the way wheelchairs are designed with a new automatic wheelchair that is fitted with sensors.
Other innovative project ideas from the younger Taqaddam students include Blind Currency, adding Braille to bank notes for the visually impaired, producing energy from farm waste and an app that detects the onset of a heart attack via a Bluetooth device.
“Developing soft skills isn’t easy nor quick but those who are prepared to be diligent will be better placed to succeed, now and in the future. We would like to congratulate all graduates of this year’s Taqaddam programme. I’m confident that each of you will be a great asset to your schools, communities and future employers,” said Sabrin Rahman, Regional Head of Corporate Sustainability, MENAT at HSBC
Gavin Anderson, British Council Country Director UAE, said: “Life Skills programmes like Taqaddam help young people acquire the necessary skills and confidence to navigate and lead what will be a fast-changing and unknown workplace in the future. Taqaddam has gone from strength to strength across the region, with more schools and students participating each year. We look forward to welcoming more teachers and students in the coming years.”
Taqaddam, which means “moving forward” in Arabic, is being delivered across seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The programme combines online learning and resources, with face-to-face teaching, culminating in a ‘Make It Happen!’ workshop where students showcase their ideas to solve for tomorrow’s challenges using learning from the programme.
