Education is the holy grail for thousands of displaced Palestinian families. For the parents of Maysa Jalbout, their efforts to secure their daughter's future yielded big returns.
DUBAI // The daughter of Palestinian refugees, Beirut-born Maysa Jalbout was 16 years old when her parents moved the family to Canada in search of better education opportunities for their children.
“My parents are very, very committed to education and were interested in seeing us get a quality education,” said Mrs Jalbout, 43. “Having lived during the war in Lebanon, there were lots of school closures and so much uncertainty about the future, so they felt that Canada would be a much better place for us.”
They settled in Burlington, Ontario, and Mrs Jalbout went on to earn a bachelors degree in sociology and a masters in education, focusing her studies on how technology could be used to spread education in developing countries.
Her education led Mrs Jalbout to a career of lifelong learning devoted to promoting education opportunities for young people.
She worked as an education policy adviser and analyst with the government of Canada.
In Jordan, she spent five years working for Queen Rania, first as director of research and strategy, and then as founding chief executive of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development.
In this country, Mrs Jalbout works as a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution Centre for Universal Education and was appointed last year as the chief executive of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.
“I feel very fortunate,” Mrs Jalbout said of the sacrifices her parents made to ensure their children had access to a good education. “I got a second chance.”
Last week, Mrs Jalbout’s life came full circle when she helped to unveil the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education’s Open Learning Scholars Programme in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The programme gives Arab students a chance to earn professional credentials by enrolling in free, tailor-made MIT courses. The programme is one of several education initiatives Mrs Jalbout is overseeing as the chief executive of the foundation. The privately funded foundation was announced last year by Emirati billionaire businessman and philanthropist Abdulla Al Ghurair, who pledged one third of his personal wealth to support programming that provides education opportunities for high-achieving Arab and Emirati students who come from economically disadvantaged families.
“Education was a very, very strong part of my upbringing. My grandparents made it very clear to their children that education was their best chance at having a good future, particularly with their background, having been Palestinian refugees,” said Mrs Jalbout, who is a married mother of two young daughters.
“Education is a tool to fight poverty. Education is a way to build economic and social development. Education improves health prospects. Education empowers young people. Education brings communities together.”
Mrs Jalbout says she feels very fortunate at being able to work with the Al Ghurair family on such a noble cause.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the Al Ghurair family,” Mrs Jalbout said. “This is a unique chance to work with people who are completely committed to this cause and for me, having worked at this for such a long time, to have an opportunity to make some of the things that I’ve been advocating a reality.
“I hope that the foundation will be able to reach as many young, talented, deserving Arab youth as possible and that those young people will go on to become the future leaders of the region who will give back.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
