GESS to honour UAE Education Pillars With Lifetime Achievement Award

GESS, the leading education exhibition in the Middle East, will recognise outstanding individual, organisational as well as corporate contributions to the advancement of education in the region when it announces the winners of the GESS Education Awards this week.

The inaugural recognition scheme will honour outstanding performance and contributions to educational excellence among teachers, schools and educational professionals. Some of the most respected names in the education sector, globally and locally, reviewed thousands of entries to this year’s awards, including Dr Cindy Gunn, Associate Professor, American University of Sharjah; Ewan McIntosh, CEO, NoTosh Ltd; Lee Garret, SPARK Coordinator, and Head of Physical Education, Dubai College; Mark Wood, co-Founder and Lead Coordinator, SPARK; Professor Mohamed Amin Embi, Faculty Member, National University of Malaysia; and Stephen Cox, Deputy Chief Education Officer, Taleem.

One of the highly coveted awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award, will honour education pillars such as the International House World Organisation, one of the largest and oldest groups of language schools in the world and was the one who pioneered Teacher Training programmes for English as a Foreign Language (EFL); Salma Zaki Nashef, a highly accomplished professor and researcher at the University of Dammam; Mark Stone, a digital learning advocate pushing for technological advancements in Gulf schools; and Dr. Samia Al Farra, Chief Education Officer, Taleem and highly distinguished teacher and promoter of international education in the Middle East.

“The education awards is an important milestone for GESS. Recognising which products and solutions actually have a far reaching impact on the improvement of teaching and learning in classrooms will help us better serve the education sector throughout the Gulf. As for honouring outstanding contributions from teachers, schools and organisations, we hope that by highlighting their achievements, they may be an inspiration for others to aspire for excellence,” said Matt Thompson, Project Director, F&E Group, organisers of the GESS Education Awards.

Other award categories being contested include the Outstanding Contribution in Education Award, Best use of ICT / e-Learning in the Classroom, Ambassador for the Environment, Community Award for Leadership and Innovation in Education Award.

The education sector has grown by leaps and bounds throughout the Gulf, thanks in part to products and solutions that have made teaching and learning more effective. To honour education suppliers and solutions providers, the GESS Education Awards will likewise recognise establishments that provide educational institutions (either directly or indirectly) with high-quality, safe products appropriate to every day teaching and learning needs. These include Resource/Equipment Supplier of the Year for K12, SEN and Higher Education; Best ICT / App Product (Free and Paid For); Best Non-ICT Resource/Equipment; Best Product to Promote Health and Fitness in the Classroom; Local Education Supplier of the Year; Global Education Supplier of the Year; and Innovation Product Awards.

Featuring an extensive variety of products and solutions, some of the most interesting product innovations being considered for the GESS Education Awards include an interactive tool for teaching Arabic in schools, a financial literacy programme for children, e-protection and data managements solutions for schools, as well as a compilation of educational trends, featuring case studies of successful education programmes all over the world.

Winners will be announced on March 5, 2014 at a gala dinner on the second day of GESS and GEF 2014, scheduled on March 4-6, 2014 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, to be attended by over 300 education professionals from around the Gulf region.

Now on its 7th year, GESS and GEF have provided an unrivalled platform for various education stakeholders to connect and discuss ways to improve education through world-class products and solutions as well as learn from leading international experts to adopt best practices for enhancing the quality of teaching and learning throughout the region.

For its significant role in advancing the cause of education, GESS and GEF have earned the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and is supported by His Excellency Humaid Moh’d Al Qutami, Minister of Education for the United Arab Emirates.

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Mar 3, 2014

Back