Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, has announced the launch of the second 'Teaching Honour' programme.
The announcement was made at the Sharjah Education Academy, where Sheikh Dr Sultan stressed the importance of teaching Arabic to school pupils. He emphasised the need to develop new teaching methods for the language as well as encouraging youngsters to learn it.
"The Arabic language is our belonging to the Quran," he said in his address to teaching staff.
"The Arabic language is a stockpile of our history, our knowledge and our culture. The Arabic language is what holds firm our belief in our religion. The Arabic language is what unites us from the furthest corners of the Earth — from the far East to the far West, we are united under one language."
The Ruler of Sharjah made his speech on Saturday morning at the opening ceremony of the First International Forum for Arabic Teachers, organised by Sharjah Education Academy.
"Today our children are prone to having their language substituted with another. What will the next generation be like?" he asked. "A generation with no religion, no culture and no sense of belonging."
He said efforts should be made to safeguard the Arabic language.
"This is protecting our existence and our religion," he said.
The opening ceremony was attended by Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education, Dr Saeed Mousabeh Al Kaabi, Chairman of Sharjah Educational Council, Dr Khawla Abdulrahman Al Mulla, Chairperson of the Family Affairs Authority in Sharjah, and a number of officials and educational experts.
Sheikh Dr Sultan also recently donated a seventh set of original manuscripts to Al Qasimia University.
They will be added to the inventory of Islamic Manuscripts House, a building on the campus. The donation contained 249 original manuscripts on subjects including language, philosophy and sciences, written in Arabic and Farsi.
It also includes four ancient lithographs and 25 parts of the Quran.
The ruler donated the documents so they could be made available to researchers and specialists for study.
