The rise of the Covid-19 pandemic changed the face of education across the world as classrooms emptied and learning moved online.
In March of last year, schools in the UAE closed their doors and adopted distance learning to contain the virus.
In the 12 month since, many pupils have been able to return to in-person lessons, though a larger number are still studying from home.
The National spoke to teachers and parents to uncover the pros and cons of remote education over the past 12 months.
Children catch up on their sleep as commutes are cut
A few studies in the UAE showed the benefits of children getting a good night’s sleep as they did not have to wake up early to catch the school bus.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai's private schools regulator, reported that of the 102,854 pupils they polled for their Wellbeing Census, 60 per cent of pupils in grades six to nine got adequate sleep five days a week in 2020, compared to 54 per cent in 2019 and 55 per cent in 2018.
Another 42 per cent of pupils in grades 10 to 12 got a good night’s rest this year compared to 37 per cent in 2019.
A study of 538 pupils from grades 9 to 13 at Dubai College revealed the wellbeing of learners was significantly improved by at least an extra hour of rest afforded by a switch to remote learning.
Fida El Badawi, head of science and physics teacher for grades 11 and 12 at American Academy for Girls in Dubai, said her pupils were less sleep-deprived.
West Yas Academy used research to reschedule school timings for pupils while they studied online.
The school day used to start at 7.30am and was rescheduled to 8.30am for middle and high school pupils.
Caroline Waddington, a British mum of two children in Abu Dhabi, said her children got an extra hour of sleep while they studied at home.
Getting to grips with new technology
Teachers had to quickly adapt to new education technology when Covid-19 struck.
Now well-versed in teaching online, they believe the lessons they have learned can be put into practice long after the pandemic is over.
For instance, parent-teacher meetings could now be arranged via Zoom. Classes could be moved online in the case of any emergency or on a rainy day.
Teacher knowledge of education technology was greatly enhanced, said Joseph Kotarski, principal of West Yas Academy.
Patrick Horne, headmaster at British International School Abu Dhabi said staff rose to the challenge.
Teachers who were unfamiliar with video-calling had to quickly adapt to using Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Ms El Badawi said that use of online tools, teacher-training in technology and parent-training was accelerated during distance learning.
“Yes, the pandemic helped. We can use these to make our lessons more engaging, and teach pupils 21st century-skills," said Ms El Badawi.
On the other hand, online learning created some problems, according to parents and teachers.
Social and emotional well-being impacted
Amani Nalouti, a Tunisian stay-at-home mother in Abu Dhabi, said her sons aged five, eight, and 11, struggled with the transition to online education.
"It was very difficult as they were not able to see their friends," said Ms Nalouti.
"My children are very active and to cut back to zero was difficult."
Ms El Badawi also said pupils felt isolated when cut adrift from the classroom environment.
Children’s social skills took a hit as they only spent time indoors.
"It is unnatural for children who are social to not interact with others," said Ms El Badawi.
Abu Dhabi pupils return to school:
"We had virtual events but the joy of coming to school and interacting with others is different."
Mr Kotarski said he had noticed a big impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of pupils during the past year.
He said children learned to navigate social situations and social interact at school.
Screen time increases dramatically
While pupils were asked to limit screen time before Covid-19, teachers and children sat in front of screens for long durations to complete lessons during online learning.
"The virtual world took over our lives and we are looking forward to going back to normal," said Ms El Badawi.
In December, The National reported that ophthalmologists in the UAE urged parents to reduce their children's screen time after seeing more patients come to them with eye complaints during the pandemic.
More children had visited doctors last year with headaches, eye strain, blinking and fatigue, caused by spending hours on digital devices.
Parents’ well-being strained
Parents struggled as they juggled work alongside monitoring their children's studies.
Being tasked with replicating a classroom environment at home posed its own difficulties.
Mr Kotarski said his school had many parents who were working from from home while trying to help their children with studies.
Rashmi Nandkeolyar, principal at Delhi Private School in Dubai, agreed that distance learning had proved a headache for some parents.
"Parents are not teachers and they are not meant to supervise their children's studies," she said.
"This was not a very healthy situation.
"If you have to juggle so many things as as a parent, you can get irritated."
She said parents jumped in to help children which was wrong from an education perspective. Teachers focus on allowing a pupil to learn something independently.
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FLIP5
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RESULTS
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RACE CARD AND SELECTIONS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
The National selections
5pm: RB Hot Spot
5.30pm: Dahess D’Arabie
6pm: Taamol
6.30pm: Rmmas
7pm: RB Seqondtonone
7.30pm: AF Mouthirah
The specs: 2018 Audi R8 V10 RWS
Price: base / as tested: From Dh632,225
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 540hp @ 8,250rpm
Torque: 540Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Mrs%20Chatterjee%20Vs%20Norway
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ashima%20Chibber%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rani%20Mukerji%2C%20Anirban%20Bhattacharya%20and%20Jim%20Sarbh%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
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