Aspire Zone Foundation’s (AZF) Third Annual ‘Aspire for Education’ conference kicked off yesterday with AZF’s CEO Mohammad Khalifa Al Suwaidi and a host of other senior Aspire dignitaries attending the opening ceremony at the Torch Ballroom within the Aspire Zone.
The two-day regional conference is being held under the theme ‘Our Values, Our Pride’ and was inaugurated by Badr Al Hay, Director of Education and Student Care at Aspire Academy.
During the opening speech Badr Al Hay said: “Since its establishment in 2004, Aspire Academy has been on a journey that has been developing students holistically, providing individuals with a comprehensive academic, social and sporting education.”
The senior AZF delegation was led by Al Suwaidi and included Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Deputy President for Sports Projects at Aspire Zone, Ivan Bravo, Director-General of Aspire Academy, Ali Salem Afifa, Deputy-Director General of Aspire Academy, among other senior officials from Aspire Academy.
Salah Al Yafi, Leadership Training Officer at Aspire Academy said: "We aim to create a balance between science and sports. We have recently launched a book for students of 7-9 grade to understand five main skills which include, attitude, behaviour, skills, values and principles. This book teaches the students that ‘All students are leaders’. We have used tree as a metaphor to make students understand easily the five skills, roots represent — principles, stems for values, growing leaves represent — skills and leaves on tree represent behavior. As behavior stands on top of skills rank.”
The conference aims to bring together education and leadership experts from Qatar, the GCC and other pan-Arab countries such as Syria and Jordan, under one roof to share best practice and discuss ground-breaking research into the role of positive societal values on students’ wellbeing and its effects on the students’ performance at school.
