Flicking through last Friday's Weekend supplement of The National, I enjoyed reading Ali Al Saloom's "Education is key to growth of the nation". He mentions how tedious he used to find memorising the contents of his textbooks, but that now the Abu Dhabi Education Council has introduced an education plan focused on exploration and experiment. This is a fantastic step forward for teenagers in the UAE.
Teenagers are at a delicate stage of their lives. We are self-aware, mature and independent thinkers - when we are not sitting with glazed eyes for hours on Facebook, that is. We will rebel if we are subjected to mind-numbingly long, boring lectures or forced to read dull textbooks.
We won't fancy staring at something that doesn't even have any pictures in it, thank you very much. This is not because we are lazy, but because we want to probe, question and do something more intellectually stimulating, using our vitality for more noble pursuits. At least, that's what we tell ourselves when we can't be bothered to revise and would rather text our friends. On the other hand, most students revel in "hands-on" activities and experimentation.
Dissecting a sheep's heart teaches us a lot more about the cardiovascular system than reading about it. The forensic unit in chemistry became a murder mystery when we were given different bottles of white powder, supposedly found at the crime scene, and asked to identify which compound they contained. It's nothing short of a Harry Potter-esque potions lesson, when you dissolve the powder in water, daub a wire loop with the solution and hold it in a Bunsen flame. If the flame suddenly turns a glittering lilac, you know you have got yourself some potassium ions. Sheer magic - if you've done it right and managed to make it work.
The NCIS streak continues into biology; collecting minute samples of plant DNA, we replicated it several hundred times to amplify it into large quantities of DNA material. Do the same for a smudge of blood at a robbery site and you can identify your criminal.
However, things don't always go according to plan: we were simply heating up a beaker of water in physics once, having left in electrodes that somehow ended up bright pink. It's satisfying, however, to be able to explain it away - we'd managed to carry out electrolysis.
We occasionally take the practical opportunities we have in our schools for granted, even grumble sometimes when we are forced to walk all the way across the laboratory to fetch our lab coats and go through the trouble of buttoning them up. By the way, I'm quite proud of my lab coat; I've dyed it orange and drawn a "corrosive" symbol on the back with permanent marker. There's nothing more pleasurable than having younger students gape at you - enviously, I hope - with your safety goggles and scalpel as you emerge from a science lesson.
The writer is a 17-year-old student living in Dubai
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Good Liar
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Directed by: Bill Condon
Three out of five stars
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
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Scorebox
Sharjah Wanderers 20-25 Dubai Tigers (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries Gormley, Penalty
Cons Flaherty
Pens Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons Caldwell 2
Pens Caldwell, Cross
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
