Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) concluded its Inclusive Education for DEWA Academy staff, in partnership with the American University in Dubai (AUD). This is in accordance with the UAE’s inclusive education policy, which is accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).
Through the initiative, DEWA strives to qualify its academicians and staff for inclusive education, as per the governmental requirements as well as the best national and international practices. This provides students who are persons of determination (POD) with equal education opportunities according to the available majors at the academy and DEWA’s admission procedures.
“The inclusive education initiative at DEWA’s Academy is one of our strategic initiatives that support the National Policy to empower POD, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to create an inclusive society that ensures empowerment and a decent life for people of determination and their families, and the ‘My Community… a City for Everyone’ initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a city that is friendly for people of determination by 2020. We aligned our strategies with federal and local strategies to include people of determination. DEWA is committed to its corporate social responsibility to achieve the UAE Vision 2021 to preserve a cohesive society proud of its identity and sense of belonging,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“One of our prominent achievements in including and empowering POD is equipping buildings and facilities according to the Dubai Universal Design Code. DEWA also employs 27 POD in seven divisions. It has graduated and employed an engineer FROM POD for a non-supervisory role in addition to an undergraduate student. DEWA’s staff includes more than 2,600 employees trained in etiquette for dealing with POD and 22 employees hold a sign language diploma. DEWA’s Employees of Determination happiness score was 99% in 2018 and Social Happiness about DEWA’s supporting POD to 90.26% in 2018. DEWA won the People-of-Determination-Friendly Government Entity award at the 21st Dubai Government Excellence Program. DEWA also received the MVO8000 in CSR, becoming the first government organisation in Dubai to receive this international certification. This in recognition of its pioneering achievements in social work,” added Al Tayer.
“This training programme for DEWA Academy’s staff builds on previous measures in qualifying the academic and administrative staff of the academy. Earlier this year, DEWA provided special training in inclusive education for the faculty members and administration, in partnership with KHDA. DEWA also trained its academic staff on dealing with POD. The training programme included several educational deliverables on the basics of special education, classroom requirements for inclusive education, essential skills of teachers in inclusive education, basics of effective teaching for POD, designing and implementing individual plans for such students, in addition to the mental development of all,” Said Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA
“AUD’s contribution to the economic and societal development is a key pillar of its mission. Supporting DEWA’s inclusive hiring strategy is one of the projects that keep us on target in terms of societal development, and puts us in direct touch with the resulting impact,” said Dr David Schmidt, President of the American University in Dubai.
“There is always a great sense of societal achievement with every executive programme that we deliver to different organisations in the public and private sectors. However, what we have done with DEWA Academy to assist their teachers in dealing with students who are POD is unique and shall be cherished,” said Dr Hassan Zeineddine, Director of Executive Programmes at AUD.
As a socially responsible organisation, DEWA is committed to providing all-inclusive education requirements at DEWA Academy through five pillars: equipping the educational faculty, planning and administrative implementation, changing the admission and acceptance policy, training the administration and faculty members, modifying the curriculum to keep pace with the requirements of inclusive education for people of determination.