Culture & Education | Wednesday 24 June, 2015 1:38 pm |

The Victoria International School of Sharjah (VISS) and Monash University, one of Australia’s top-ranked universities, are exploring plans for a strategic and wide-ranging partnership in educational areas of mutual interest.

VISS, which offers the Australian curriculum up to grade 10, the IB diploma program and the distinguished Global Citizen American diploma in the final two years, recently welcomed a senior Monash delegation to the school where they toured facilities and formerly discussed key initiatives.

The delegation included Professor Abid Khan, Monash’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Global Engagement) and Dr. Nizar Farjou, Monash’s Associate President (MENACA – Global Engagement). Greeting the delegation was Professor Dr. Amr Abdel-Hamid, Chairman of VISS and Director General of the Sharjah Research Academy, VISS Principal Mr Dean Pyrah, as well as the school’s senior leadership team.

Whilst the collaboration between the two institutes is being formalized, initial discussions have identified the following areas as the core focus of the partnership:

· Delivery of Monash’s latest specialized professional development programs to teaching staff at VISS

· Enrolment of VISS teachers in Monash’s world-recognized Masters and PhD in Education programs of study

· Inclusion of VISS in the list of Australian schools where graduating students from Monash University’s Faculty of Education could undertake their final year internships

The partnership follows recent visits to the Melbourne-based University by Mr. Pyrah, who opened up discussions in April with Professor John Loughran, Dean of Education at Monash University, which is ranked sixth in the world in the field of education. Extensive communication was also undertaken by Dr. Abdel-Hamid, Professor Khan and Dr Farjou.

“The collaboration is in-line with the long-term vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah and Member of the Supreme Council, who established the school through an agreement with the Australian State of Victoria as a lighthouse for state-of-the-art high quality education in the UAE and the region,” said Dr. Abdel-Hamid, Chairman of VISS.

Mr Pyrah added: “VISS is a world-class provider of the very best in Australian and international education, and we are proud to forge this strategic alliance with one of Australia’s leading universities.”

“We are fully committed to being a ‘centre of excellence’, and this partnership with Monash allows us to achieve our strategic goals and fulfil the vision of His Highness.”

As part of the visit to VISS, the school’s leadership team hosted a video conference call with Professor Debbie Corrigan, Deputy Dean of Faculty of Education, who is leading the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) programme at Monash University. The attendees on the conference call from Monash and VISS discussed ways of enhancing STEM education approaches at VISS.

In addition to the partnership with VISS, and building on the previous successful collaboration between Sharjah and Monash University in the field of higher education, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Al-Qasimi directed the Sharjah Research Academy to explore with Monash University opportunities for collaboration in research in areas of mutual interest, including establishing a Centre for Educational Research at the academy. During the visit to Sharjah, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that sets the structure of such collaboration.

“Monash University admires the great efforts of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi to create in Sharjah a wealth of research talents across many fields as well as his strategy to build a national innovation system, and is pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with Sharjah in these efforts in every possible way,” said Professor Khan.