GEMS Education announces the launch of inter-group ‘Year of Zayed’ Competition

GEMS Education announces the launch of the first inter-group ‘Year of Zayed’ (#gemscelebrateszayed) competition where each school will develop and implement a student-led project that celebrates and honours the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed following his vision and values.

Through this competition students from all GEMS schools in the UAE will be encouraged to design, develop and implement a project that has a positive impact on their communities while concurrently celebrating Sheikh Zayed’s values. This is over and beyond all of the Year of Zayed initiatives that have been taking place since the beginning of the year.

The competition will take place until December 2018. Students in every school will design, develop and lead different projects covering a wide array of topics like sustainability, human development, social responsibility, environmental, woman empowerment and leadership. A total cash prize of 30,000 AED will be given to the top winners from the whole-school category and the primary school category. The prize must be reinvested into the project, to have an even larger impact on the community 

Deema Al-Alami, Vice President of Arabic & Islamic at GEMS Education commented: We are very excited to be creating yet another, meaningful opportunity for students to celebrate Sheikh Zayed’s qualities and values through the use of their innovative, leadership, social-emotional intelligence to positively impact the communities they live in. 

Deema added: One of our favorite quotes of sheikh Zayed is that “The real wealth is hard work that benefits the person and the community. It is immortal and eternal, and forms the value of the human and the nation.” That is why we decided to create this inter-GEMS competition, where students are required to really think deeply about how they can translate Sheikh Zayed’s key qualities and values into projects that will have an impact on their communities and overall UAE. “

The competition will not only involve students but will have the entire school community come together. The Year of Zayed Coordinators in every school, will then have to complete a detailed application about their project and the size of the impact it has on the community. These applications will be reviewed and then students of the selected projects will have an opportunity to present their projects in front of a panel in the Closing Event. The panel will include the winner of GEMS Mariamma Varkey Award, Exceptional Head of School Winner senior management who will evaluate the projects and identify the winners.

Ms. Ghadeer Abu-Shamat, Superintendent/ CEO of Al Khaleej National School commented: “At GEMS Education we have always believed in inculcating good values to our students and nothing can be better than learning the values of UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. This competition is more than an occasion for us as we celebrate the ‘Year of Zayed’ and his remarkable achievements and values he has passed on to all of us. We want our students to cherish these values and learn from them as they move a step ahead in their life.”