Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation For Distinguished Academic Performance Unveils New Criteria For The 25th Cycle Of Its Annual Award

As part of its celebration by the 25^th anniversary of its prestigious award in UAE and region, Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance announces the new criteria for the 25^th session of its annual award.

This comes as part of the Foundation’s commitment to keep pace with all changes in the field of education, talents training and ambitious projects aimed at promoting educational excellence and upgrading the entire educational system in the United Arab Emirates and the region in general.

The announcement of these new standards occurred in a session held by Hamdan Foundation today (Wednesday, 30^th March 2022) in the presence of Dr. Jamal Mohammed Al Muhairi, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and General Secretary, Dr. Ali Saeed Al Kaabi, Chairman of the Foundation Awards Development Committees for the 25^th session, Dr. Awsha Ahmed Al Muhairi, Chairman of the Distinguished Student award Development Committee and Distinguished Undergraduate University Student Award, Dr. Adib Mohamed Garah, Chairman of the Distinguished Educator Award Development committee, Dr. Ibrahim Yousef Al Megeny, Chairman of the Distinguished Teacher Award Development committee and Dr. Rashid Muslim Al Rayami, Chairman of the Distinguished School Award Development committee.

In turn, Dr. Jamal Al Muhairi said: “The announcement of the new standards comes as part of the commitment of Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance to its vision of leading the excellence of educational performance and caring for talented and innovative people to achieve its objectives of contribution to the qualitative improvement of education.”

“To continue the achievements of the Foundation’s award for the past 25 years since its establishment by the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Foundation decided to develop the awards significantly in preparation for the launch of its 25^th session through the assistance of some experts and specialists from different fields in the educational field to apply the standardized studies and comparisons and use the best practices in the field of the excellence awards for the next cycle,” Dr. Al Muhairi added.

Dr. Al Muhairi continued: “The new standards are based on three main outputs: a strategic goal aimed at contributing to the distinguished academic performance, an operational goal that seeks to raise the level of participation and excellence in the competitions of the foundation, and general goals to raise the standards of the awards, developing the evaluation system and increasing the quality of the performance of individuals and institutions applied for the awards of the foundation.”

In accordance with the new standards of the 25^th session of the awards of Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, an evaluation system for all categories was developed through the design of an evaluation tool, ‘the Rubric Marker’, training sessions for participants and arbitrators that were designed and prepared specifically, as well as the application of a pilot phase of the new standards to a group of target people, where training programs for the qualification and accreditation of arbitrators will be held to grant some of them a license for arbitration. The improvement of the standards includes training and familiarizing participants with the new standards and their requirements, details and conditions in order to be fully prepared to participate effectively and increase their chances of winning the various categories of the award. Training services for the 25^th cycle have also been developed through virtual training programs, induction films, further meetings and visits to universities and schools to raise awareness about awards, question sessions, launch of inquiry response services through a hotline and e-mail, and answering the frequently asked questions through the website and automatic response.

Based on the new standards, the Distinguished Student award (Local and Gulf) and Distinguished Undergraduate University Student Award (Local) have been developed, with the addition of two fields, which are the academic and non-academic fields.