Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi, Director of the Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Department, exudes objectivity and trustworthiness, as she speaks of advancement based on scientific grounds and tangible facts, in this interview. The Curriculum Department is implementing a number of projects and plans in the field of eArchiving, information bank and art production devices as part of its ongoing endeavour to produce a schoolbook with a high level of constructive content that is in conformity with the knowledge revolution in all fields. 

First of all, could you please tell us about the system of eArchiving photos and school courses at the Curriculum Department?

Undoubtedly, this system has many advantages, including easy and smooth retrieval of information, through an eArchiving programme equipped with technological tools with more than one search method. For instance, search can be made by title or date of the event or by names of photos in either Arabic or English. Another advantage lies in enabling the art producers and draftsmen working in the Curriculum Department to bring a number of required photos in such a manner that saves much effort and time, enabling fast accomplishment of the task as well as accuracy in selecting suitable high-quality photos.

What is meant by a set of pictures and information that can be archived through this system?

A schoolbook needs illustrative photos, such as those of historical and scientific events or political and intellectual personalities within and outside the UAE. These photos can often be obtained via the Internet. However, through the eArchiving system, which has been approved by the Curriculum Department at the Ministry of Education, the required high-resolution photos can be saved, retrieved and re-called any time. This will enable us to avoid a laborious search for these photos on the Internet as they are already stored in the ministry’s servers.

What is the percentage of the photos archived through this system till now?

We have archived nearly 50 per cent of the photos available with us, and work is underway to archive the rest. We have also archived a bank for the required information by virtue of the eArchiving programme through the centralization of that information, which provides a resource for upgrading the material and content. The provision of art production devices like “Apple Mac Pro” is regarded as a quantum leap in the Curriculum Department in terms of fast completion as per the highest levels of global quality approved for art production. As per these devices, printing establishments are bound to ensure the provision of an outstanding level through the use of the latest production (designing) and printing machines.

What are the advantages of the new design and production devices?

These are part of the archiving devices. It can be said that the new generation of the design and production devices ensure that the completion process is much faster, compared to the devices used by the art producers at the ministry earlier, because it works on the dual systems of Mac and Window.Here we must mention the role of Dr Hanif Hassan Minister of Education, and Dr Foazia Badri, Executive Director for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education, which reflected positively on the work mechanism. Visitors who came to the ministry’s building two weeks before the opening of schools were very impressed with the system.Actually, the ministry is like a beehive and its staff are working with a one-family spirit for optimally upgrading and developing the standard of the curricula in line with an ongoing plan to develop curricula. Due to the ever-changing knowledge horizons, a schoolbook cannot be used by students for more than two years without being updated in terms of content, photos and explanations.

What is the latest news on the electronic connectivity project between the ministry and government schools across the UAE? What are the eServices provided by the ministry?

We have the portal of the Ministry of Education whose URL is www.moe.gov.ae. It provides its eServices to government schools as well as Al Ghad schools by allocating special links to allow students to familiarize themselves with everything related to the curricula, complete with samples of some activities and examination papers. In addition, the student’s parent can track the academic reports of the child as well as the skills that he has learnt so that they can be developed. The portal also has other links for teachers and employees that allow them to implement many services. Besides, there are other eServices that can be explored when visiting the portal. We have also many treaties that are proposed by the ministry’s computer section with respect to electronic connectivity and the making of an advanced electronic infrastructure that will enable schools to hold meetings and interviews using the latest video and photo media technologies. This ongoing project needs some time before it can be implemented.

What would you like to say to the students’ parents at the beginning of the academic year?

We wish that they would always help us through their comments on and opinions about the curriculum. We also wish that they weigh the efforts exerted for producing these curricula when they come across some minor mistakes and slips that are mostly the result of hurry. Actually, the books available with the students are a collection of subjects and ideas that are based on scientific grounds through national documents selected by the members of the composition committees to suit the student’s age and academic attainment. We also have a plan to enrich the educational field by taking the comments of teachers, parents and students.

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To know more about the specifications and technical potentials of the eArchiving system of photos and school courses adopted by the curriculum Department at the Ministry of Education, we met with Eyad Nasser Al-Shanableh, business consultant manager at PRO TECHnology Co., which is carrying out the project. Excerpts from the interview: The Cumulus programme provides the user with an easy database of smooth workflow as it can deal with all file formats, be they photos, videos, sound files or even Photo Suite, Office Suite, PDF or Power Point Word.One of Cumulus’ most important features is its power of searching for any electronic file within a large number of files easily and at ultra speed.

Another strong feature is the safety that the programme provides to protect the files against any change to the original file, omission or theft. The programme also allows the user remote access to the files by using the username and password on the Internet. It is noteworthy that the technical production devices “Apple Mac Pro” are operated by a processor of the type “2 Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon Processors” and provide an environment that conforms to the professional software that are operated by Windows operating systems from Microsoft.

This will provide a favourable climate for the user to deal with more than one system simultaneously without exerting extra effort.As for information security and information-saving methods using “Asset Security Meets Streamlined Workflow”, the system has been generally provided with the latest information security means as per the protection requirements of the information available in the Curriculum Department and Production Unit in terms of protecting the rights of public and private property against leakage and illegal breach incidents.Generally speaking, the new storage systems currently in use are powered by the technology of what is known as “Disk-to-Disk to Tap – D2D2T”, where the information of all Application & File Servers is stored in two phases: Storing information on compact disks of high efficiency and speed in what is known as “Storageflex Storage” and Copying the stored information to the “Qualsteir Tape Library System” for secure, long-term protection.

Ask the Minister

Driven by the keen desire of the Ministry of Education to raise the standard of service in co-operation with the society in general and particularly those in charge of the educational process, the ministry has created the online page “Ask the Minister”. This receives the viewpoints of all stake holders in the education process, including students, teachers and parents. The initiative looks into their suggestions and listens to their concerns and complaints through direct and online communication with His Excellency Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education, who personally tracks the opinions and responds.The “Ask the Minister” online service can be accessed through the portal of the Ministry of Education on the URL www.moe.gov.ae.