Tag Archives: education
Project to transform metro stations into art museums
Project to transform metro stations into art museums Staff Reporter / 18 March 2014 Shaikh Mohammed gave directions to complete the project by the commencement of Art Dubai 2015. The Dubai Metro Museum project that will transform the metro stations into art museums was detailed on Monday during a presentation to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Shaikh Mohammed gave directions to transform Dubai Metro stations into art museums displaying artworks and creations from different themes and cultures, an initiative that aims at making arts and creativity accessible to all segments of the society. It also aims at enhancing the UAE’s international position in general and Dubai’s in particular as a vital supporter for arts and artists. He was briefed on the project and its different implementation stages. The presentation was also attended by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. Shaikh Mohammed gave directions for the project to be completed within 12 months and to synchronise the launch with the commencement of Art Dubai 2015. “We want to reach everyone through arts. We want creativity to reach every individual. We want to inspire and communicate with every employee on his way to work, every student on his way to pursuing education and every tourist visiting Dubai,” he said. “We want to transfer Dubai Metro stations to museums accompanying passengers to all destinations,” he added “Art is a universal language that has power to unite humanity. It removes barriers that seems to separate them from one another,” he said. Station art themes Phase one of the project will include transforming four vital metro stations into art museums. Each of the museums will have a specific theme that highlights a specific aspect of arts or cultures. The interior and exterior designs of the museums will reflect their themes. Islamic arts and Arabic Calligraphy Museum; Inventions Museum; Contemporary Art Museum; and Visual Art Museum will be launched during phase one. The Islamic art and Arabic Calligraphy Museum will include a collection of artworks inspired by Islamic art and its development phases over 1,400 years. Manuscripts, ceramics and jewellery will be some of the items on display. Inventions Museum will offer a unique and interactive educational experience that illustrates the most important human inventions in different fields. The Contemporary Art Museum will have paintings, designs, graphic illustrations, models, and many other items that reflect the expressive and intellectual styles created by contemporary artists. Visual Art Museum will give visitors the opportunity to share their work and have it on display as well. The museums will be provided with state-of-the-art technology and smart and interactive mobile applications in line with Smart Dubai initiative. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the initiative will add a new attraction factor for commuters and an aesthetic dimension to the facilities. Operational hinderances to the metro stations will be minimal. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
US, EU set sanctions as Putin recognises Crimea sovereignty
US, EU set sanctions as Putin recognises Crimea sovereignty (Agencies) / 18 March 2014 US President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians blamed for the seizure. The United States and European Union imposed personal sanctions on Monday on Russian and Crimean officials involved in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the region as a sovereign state. The moves heightened the most serious East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War, following a disputed referendum in the Black Sea peninsula on Sunday in which Crimea’s leaders declared a Soviet-style, 97-percent vote to secede from Ukraine. Within hours, the Crimean parliament formally asked that Russia “admit the Republic of Crimea as a new subject with the status of a republic”. Putin will on Tuesday address a special joint session of Russia’s State Duma, or parliament, which could take a decision on annexation of the majority ethnic-Russian region. That would dismember Ukraine, a former Soviet republic once under Moscow’s thumb, against its will. Kiev and the West said the referendum, held under armed Russian occupation, violated Ukraine’s constitution and international law. Russian forces took control of Crimea in late February following the toppling of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich after deadly clashes between riot police and protesters trying to overturn his decision to spurn a trade and cooperation deal with the EU in favour of cultivating closer ties with Russia. US President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians blamed for the seizure, including Yanukovich, and Vladislav Surkov and Sergei Glazyev, two aides to Putin. Putin himself, suspected in the West of trying to resurrect as much as possible of the former Soviet Union under Russian leadership, was not on the blacklist. A White House spokesman declined to rule out adding him at a later stage. Amid fears that Russia may move into eastern Ukraine where there is a significant Russian-speaking community, Obama warned that “further provocations” would only increase Moscow’s isolation and exact a greater toll on its economy. “If Russia continues to interfere in Ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions,” he said. A senior US official said Obama’s order cleared the way to sanction people associated with the arms industry and targets “the personal wealth of cronies” of the Russian leadership. In Brussels, the EU’s 28 foreign ministers agreed to subject 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials to visa restrictions and asset freezes for their roles in the events. They included three Russian military commanders in Crimea and districts bordering on Ukraine. There were only three names in common on the US and European lists – Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, Crimean parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov and Leonid Slutski, chairman of the Russian Duma’s committee on the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), grouping former Soviet republics. The EU blacklisted Yanukovich earlier this month. The US list appeared to target higher-profile Russian officials close to Putin, including a deputy Russian prime minister, while the EU went for mid-ranking officials who may have been more directly involved on the ground. Washington and Brussels said further steps could follow in the coming days if Russia does not back down and formally annexes Crimea. A senior Obama administration official said there was “concrete evidence” that some ballots in the Crimea referendum arrived in some Crimean cities pre-marked. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who was named on the White House sanctions list, suggested that the measures would not affect those without assets abroad. Obama said Russian forces must end “incursions” into its ex-Soviet neighbour, while Putin renewed his accusation that the new leadership in Kiev, brought to power by the uprising that toppled his elected Ukrainian ally last month, were failing to protect Russian-speakers from violent Ukrainian nationalists. Moscow responded to Western pressure for an international “contact group” to mediate in the crisis by proposing a “support group” of states. This would push for recognition of the Crimean referendum and urge a new constitution for rump Ukraine that would require it to uphold political and military neutrality. While a Western diplomat said some of the Russian ideas may offer scope for negotiation, Ukraine’s interim president ruled out ever accepting the annexation of its territory. A complete preliminary count of Sunday’s vote showed that 96.77 per cent of voters opted to join Russia, the chairman of the regional government commission overseeing the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev, announced on television. Officials said the turnout was 83 per cent. Crimea is home to 2 million people. Members of the ethnic Ukrainian and Muslim Tatar minorities had said they would boycott the poll, held just weeks after Russian forces took control of the peninsula. Putin’s popularity at home has been boosted by his action on Crimea despite serious risks for a stagnant economy. Russian shares and the rouble rebounded as investors calculated that Western sanctions would be largely symbolic and would avoid trade or financial measures that would inflict significant economic damage. However, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said EU countries had begun discussing the need for Europe to reduce its reliance on Russian energy “over many years to come”. Much of that energy is shipped through gas pipelines crossing Ukraine. In a sign of possible internal debates ahead, euro zone newcomer Latvia said the EU should compensate any countries hurt by sanctions against Russia. The three former Soviet Baltic states, home to Russian-speaking minorities and dependent on Russian energy supplies, could suffer in any retaliation. Moscow defended the takeover of Crimea by citing a right to protect “peaceful citizens”. Ukraine’s interim government has mobilised troops to defend against an invasion of its eastern mainland, where pro-Russian protesters have been involved in deadly clashes in recent days. The Ukrainian parliament on Monday endorsed a presidential decree for a partial military mobilisation to call up 40,000 reservists to counter Russia’ military actions. Ukraine recalled its ambassador from Moscow for consultations. Russia’s lower house of parliament will pass legislation allowing Crimea to join Russia “in the very near future”, news agency Interfax cited its deputy speaker as saying. US and European officials say military action is unlikely over Crimea, which Soviet rulers handed to Ukraine 60 years ago. Highlighting the stakes, journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, stood before an image of a mushroom cloud on his weekly TV show to issue a stark warning. He said: “Russia is the only country in the world that is realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash.” Japan imposes sanctions on Russia over Crimea Japan has announced a set of sanctions against Russia for its recognition of Crimea as an independent state. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement that Japan does not recognize the outcome of Crimea’s referendum to split from Ukraine, saying it violates the Ukrainian constitution. Japan’s sanctions involve suspension of talks on relaxing visa requirements between Japan and Russia as well as planned talks on investment, space and military. The moves are seen as modest compared to sanctions by the US and European Union, which have frozen the assets of individuals linked to the unrest in Crimea or who support the region’s vote to secede from Ukraine. Kishida also urged Russia to comply with international laws, withdraw the recognition of Crimea’s independence and not move further toward its annexation. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Experts call for curbing absenteeism in schools
Experts call for curbing absenteeism in schools Afkar Abdullah / 16 March 2014 Skipping schools has become a ‘chronic behaviour’ among students, and experts are calling for a collaborative effort to curb the practice. Students of middle and high schools loitering in parks and malls; teenagers in school uniforms smoking around buildings and groceries in residential areas during school days. Sounds familiar? According to education experts, skipping classes has become a “chronic behaviour” among many students in government and private schools. Experts agreed that absenteeism among students has become a phenomenon that requires serious collaborative efforts between parents, schools, authorities concerned and the public. Mona Shuhail, Deputy Director of Sharjah Education Zone, said the phenomenon has been increasing every academic year. “This phenomenon will not only affect the student academically, but also the families and the whole society,” she said. “Here at the department, we receive a large number of complaints from the public and authorities such as the police and municipality about students who are seen roaming around outside schools during academic hours. We then contact the schools concerned and inform them about their students and instruct them to take serious steps to stop students from skipping classes.” Why students bunk schools Mostly male students skip classes. There could be many reasons for a student to skip classes, including family instability, negligence on the part of parents and bad company. “But most of the time students skip classes because they just want to, like maybe for the thrill of it,” Shuhail explained. “We brought (some) students here and questioned them…most of them skipped classes because they didn’t do their homework.” Mirgani Osman, a high school student, said he skipped school once because he wanted to eat ice cream with his friends instead of attending the last two classes of Art that he was not interested in. Wahbi Al Hamadi said his friends from different classes used to smoke cigarettes and convinced him to try it. However, after the Sharjah Municipality banned the sale of cigarettes in groceries, Al Hamadi and his friends decided to quit smoking and concentrate on studies. Measures adopted To resolve the problem, Shuhail said the department sent a circular to schools to check for absenteeism each year instead of at the beginning of the academic day. The department also instructed schools to conduct awareness classes about the consequences of skipping school. “The schools were instructed to contact the parents of students who skip school. But the problem is that in many cases, parents don’t answer calls and don’t show up when summoned by the school management.” She called for a collaborative effort from parents, schools, authorities concerned and the public. “The education department is planning to introduce a toll free number for the public to inform the authorities if they find students skipping classes.” Mohammed Al Jasim, spokesperson of the Sharjah Municipality, said the municipality received several complaints about students spending an academic day at parks. “The municipality (however) is not authorised to question students on skipping classes or even stop them from entering the park.” Mustafa Al Mosa, Director of Al Marriffa School, said they used to face this problem and several times the police brought students found loitering in malls to the school. “The practice stopped after we assigned security guards at all gates of the school and deployed a supervisor to search for students out of their classes. This, besides continuous instructions to students about such negative practices, has helped curb the phenomenon,” he said. Sultan Al Khayal, the spokesperson of the Sharjah Police, said the police deployed special patrols to curb the practice. The police also provide awareness lectures about the dangers of negative practices such as smoking, using drugs and skipping schools. When a police patrol spots students skipping schools, they summon the parents and make them sign an undertaking stating that they would not repeat the act. The schools concerned and the education department are also informed. Suggested measures Hibba Mohammed, a social researcher at the Sharjah Education Zone, said they are currently working on a study based on a survey conducted among parents, school management and authorities concerned to come up with an effective solution to curb the practice. Skipping school affects a student’s learning process and exposes them to danger. Two school directors demanded strict punitive action for skipping schools, while Yaqoub Al Hamadi, a social worker at Al Shahba High School, said the students concerned must only be questioned. “Tough punishment would complicate the issue,” he said. afkarali@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
