GEMS Education has announced plans to put “Family First” values at the heart of its teaching in schools in the UAE.
The UAE’s largest private education provider has introduced a new scheme while supporting the country’s agenda for social change.
The new plan encourages GEMS families to spend more time together, exploring new frontiers of experience, and tapping into the wealth of knowledge and wise counsel within the home unit that too often goes undiscovered.
Gems Education announces Family First scheme
Plans for Family First activations in 2024 include:
- A large survey on family values
- A monthly TED Talk-style discussion on different aspects of family support led by leading experts and proponents from around the world
- An end-of-year gala event to celebrate stories that encapsulate Family First principles
Every GEMS school in the UAE and Qatar has already appointed a staff member as a Family First “Champion” to spearhead individual school activities based on family values.
All 44 GEMS schools in the UAE and Qatar will add family values and the importance of family into their teaching from kindergarten years upwards.
This will take various forms, ranging from emphasising the importance of strong ethical behaviour in an Islamic or Moral Studies class, to interviewing an elderly Emirati grandparent about growing up in the UAE during the 1950s or 1960s in a history lesson.
The initiative was launched at GEMS World Academy – Dubai by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence.
The Family First plan is based on love and care, will help GEMS underpin its long-established holistic classroom learning for students across its school network in a ground-breaking new programme.
GEMS believes that family is the launchpad for all learning and that love and care for our elder relatives is a great way for us to repay at least some of the debt we owe our parents and grandparents.
Sheikh Nahyan said: “Family is the most important building block of a peaceful, tolerant, and prosperous society. Your work will help families promote values such as peace, tolerance, fraternity, non-violence, as well as personal and collective growth and achievement.
“These are values which are so important in our lives, our society, and our world today.
“The emphasis in the Family First movement on the connection between children’s mental health and their family life is particularly important.
“I commend GEMS schools, under the leadership of my friend, Sunny Varkey, for taking up this important challenge. I congratulate the faculty and staff at the schools for realising their duty to engage families and to enhance their abilities to help their children live their lives with confidence and hope.”
The project has the full backing of GEMS Education Founder and Global Group Chairman, Sunny Varkey, who helped his teacher parents grow the organisation from a single school in the early 1980s to become one of the world’s biggest and longest established private school groups.
He said: “As I get a little older, I start to realise that the most important things in life are the family relationships we have.
“In all my travels, I have noticed that in developing economies there is a real family bond – of love and dependence. To me, this is the norm.
“However, in wealthier nations, I see people more isolated as they pursue their individual goals.
“It is good to dream but you mustn’t forget those that gave you the chance to dream in the first place – your families.
“Families that stand together – united – are always stronger. And for those that say our elders are merely dependents, I say this to you… ‘Have you ever seen grandparents play with their grandchildren?’
“You will see that our elders are the essential anchors of stability and guidance. They offer deep wisdom, important traditions, and a huge capacity for love.”
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