DUBAI // Islam Atia shares a dream with thousands of other students. The 16-year-old Egyptian is one of more than 14,000 youngsters from across the Middle East who have applied for scholarships from the UAE-based Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.
The Foundation, the largest of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in the world, was founded in 2015 with the aim of investing US$1.1Billion (Dh4.2 billion) in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education for talented and underprivileged students over 10 years. A total of 15,000 youngsters are set to benefit from the scholarship scheme.
Islam, a high school student who has lived his whole life in Ras Al Khaimah, hopes to attend one of the region’s high ranking universities. With fees being so high - tuition at the American University of Sharjah can cost tens of thousands of dirhams a year - the scholarship is his best shot at studying his dream subject of mechanical engineering
“I sent my application to the Foundation hoping to find a sponsor to cover my studies in a high ranking university such as American University in Cairo or AUS,” he said.
“Studying mechanical engineering is my dream, but going to a high ranking university is very expensive. I applied to both develop myself and to help my country and the UAE in the future with my knowledge.”
The Al Ghurair STEM Scholars Programme attracted around 14,500 applications in just five weeks after online applications opened in April.
Potential scholars must give evidence of their academic performance and financial status as well as their leadership skills and commitment through submitted essays.
Those selected will be provided with tuition, living allowance, health insurance, shared on-campus housing, a books allowance and travel expenses.
“Our programmes were designed with high-achieving, underserved Arab youth in mind and we are thrilled to have received such an astounding number of applications to our first year of offering scholarships starting in September,” said Maysa Jalbout, chief executive of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation.
“The Foundation is committed to equipping Arab youth with the knowledge and skills they need to fulfil their promise as the future leaders of the region and this is the first step of their journey.”
The first cohort of Al Ghurair STEM Scholars will be announced early next month.
Applicants for undergraduate and graduate scholarships are also able to apply to one of the Foundation’s four partner universities; American University in Cairo (AUC), American University of Sharjah (AUS), American University of Beirut (AUB), and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Professor Tod Laursen, president of Khalifa University, said he hoped that in time the university will take undergraduate as well as graduate students.
“We’re hoping to do undergraduate scholarships at a later date, but for where we are right now graduate students was a natural place to start.
“We’d hope for one to two dozen initially but we’ll see.”
Professor Kevin Mitchell, Interim Provost of American University of Sharjah, lauded the project for filling a much needed demand from less privileged but talented minds around the region.
“The number of organisations providing scholarships for deserving students in the region is currently limited, but hopefully others will follow the lead of the Foundation and expand opportunities for students interested in STEM fields and in a range of other disciplines.”
Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said having the fund open to students outside of the UAE was important. “We wanted to make sure that every deserving Arab youth had the chance to apply and the high number of applicants proves that there is tremendous demand.”
mswan@thenational.ae
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
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Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
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● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners