Dubai: A new awareness campaign launched yesterday in schools by Dubai Police is aimed at nixing discrimination among pupils by encouraging more tolerance among classmates.
Colonel Dr Jasem Khalil Mirza, Director of the Security Awareness Department at the General Directorate of Community Services at Dubai Police, said that in some schools, students mock others because they are from a different colour, religion or ethnicity.
“We want to have a tolerant society and it must start with our young generation being taught about its importance. We noticed some problems in schools and among social media users and we want to educate the pupils to learn how to forgive and be tolerant with others,” Colonel Mirza said.
Police acknowledged that in some schools mocking or bullying other students is a problem that needs to be checked,
“This campaign will educate pupils about the importance of being a tolerant person as our society believes in tolerance.”
Sultan Saqr Al Suwaidi, Deputy Chairman of the Juvenile Care and Awareness Association, said the UAE recently issued an anti-discrimination law to criminalise all forms of discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste, creed, race, colour or ethnicity.
Sultan Al Suwaidi said: “As more than 216 nationalities live in the UAE, the anti-discrimination law has been introduced to fight against discrimination and hate speech.”
Dr Mohammad Murad Abdullah, Secretary-General of the Juvenile Care and Awareness Association, said that educating the young generation on tolerance will help create a better future.
“Terror and extremist problems in the world are rife because of the absence of tolerance. We want our children to be educated early about the importance of tolerance and how to respect others’ opinions to avoid trouble in the future,” Dr Abdullah said.
The campaign which will continue till March 31, include lectures for the pupils as well as workshops for teachers and social activists. It will also focus on social media.
