Abu Dhabi: A total of 500 Emirati schoolchildren from the emirate of Abu Dhabi will soon travel abroad in order to learn English and leadership skills, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) announced in a statement sent on Sunday.
The pupils, enrolled in Grades 10 and 11, will be headed to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland at the end of this month as part of the Summer Abroad programme. The group include 420 boys and 80 girls, and they will return to the UAE on August 30.
“The programme will help pupils improve their academic and personal skills. It will also give them a chance to be self-reliant, and allow them to enhance their English language skills and leadership abilities while interacting with people from other cultures,” said Abdullah Al Shamsi, division manager of general services at the Adec and project manager of Summer Abroad.
The initiative is conducted each year under a generous grant from General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and chairman of the Adec.
Selected pupils must score 85 per cent or more academically, participate in extracurricular activities and display exemplary behaviour to be selected for Summer Abroad.
This year’s selected participants recently attended orientation workshops, the Adec statement added.
