Business & Finance Club Magazine - Education Sector -  Abu Dhabi :  Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) signed a contract with EduCluster Finland Ltd today to run a project implementing the Finnish education system model in two of Abu Dhabi's public schools.

The partnership will utilize the Finnish experience, curriculum, and pedagogy methods in order to meet ADEC's objective of driving improvement in the P-12 school sector and developing the skills of UAE teachers and school leadership.

The agreement was signed by Dierector General of ADEC Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili and Pekka Peltonen, CEO of EduCluster Finland Ltd. The signing was attended by the Finnish ambassador Matti Lassila and Ms. Elise Tarvainen - CEO, UniServices Ltd.

Director General of ADEC, Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, said that it is important to learn from and apply international best practices by adapting curriculum and pedagogy methods to suit local objectives and cultural norms. He also stressed the importance of developing the skills of Emirati school leaders and teachers in order to meet the strategic goals of ADEC.

"The Finnish curriculum and method of teaching is recognized internationally as developing well-rounded and innovative students. In addition, Finland has received top scores in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a system that assesses student capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy; this accomplishment is a testament to Finland's position as a world leader in education", Dr. Al-Khaili said.

As part of this program, Finnish teachers will be working closely with their UAE peers, training them in modern, child-centered methods of teaching. This will be supported by the opportunity for Emirati teachers in the schools to develop their skills through in-house professional development programs, and through the opportunity to attend university courses to obtain a Master's degree from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

The program will run as a partnership model with the UAE National teachers instructing Arabic, Islamic studies, social studies and culture and heritage, while Finnish teachers will teach English language, math, science and IT. Finnish principals will also be collaborating with Emirati vice-principals to train and assist them in the Finnish methods of school leadership.

The Abu Dhabi-Finnish School program will be applied in two primary schools starting from the 2010-2011 school year: Al-Ameen Primary School for Boys in Abu Dhabi and Hili Primary School for Girls in Al Ain.

In addition to funding the local program, ADEC will support educational visits for teachers to attend university courses and visit Finnish schools for approximately two to four weeks.