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    ISESCO-CELL meeting on cooperation promotion in education issues

    The permanent headquarters of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in Rabat, today, hosted a coordination meeting on “ways to address divisive stereotypes in curricula” between ISESCO and the Conflict and Education Learning Laboratory (CELL), a foundation specialized in education in conflict zones.

    Co-moderated by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, and Dr. Jo Ritzen, Chairperson of CELL Foundation and former education minister of the Netherlands, the meeting was attended by ISESCO’s directors and experts along with Mr. Atif Rizvi, CEO and co-founder of CELL; and Ms. Ayla Bonfiglio, CELL Executive Director and Regional Coordinator for North Africa of the Mixed Migration Center.

    The meeting opened with a welcoming address by Dr. AlMalik wherein he talked about the expertise of the Foundation in the field of education in conflict zones and the importance it attaches to the theme of the meeting. Afterwards, Dr. Ritzen took the floor thanking ISESCO and its Director General for his invitation to the meeting. He pointed out that the theme of the meeting is of great importance as divisive stereotypes in textbooks, curricula and the media have damaging effects on children and the youth because they shape their minds, history and identity.

    Moreover, Dr. Ritzen stated that the general objectives of CELL and ISESCO converge in this regard. Thanks to its presence all over the Islamic world, ISESCO provides a cumulated knowledge-based activity made up of practices and partnerships with different education institutions and research on textbooks, curricula and information materials.

    Through its research and creative “Info Hive” platform, Mr. Ritzen added, CELL presents a golden opportunity for participation and promotion of cooperation between experts, researchers, decision-makers, practitioners, teachers and the public to accumulate knowledge and raise awareness about the ways in which divisive stereotypes lead to extremism, conflict, violence and violation of the rights of children, youth, women and disadvantaged groups, including refugees and ethnic minorities in ISESCO Member States.

    For his part, Mr. Rizvi pointed out that the staff and experts working in the fields of education and conflict alleviation have long realized that revising textbooks can largely contribute to changing, jointly or individually and at the institutional level, the minds of children and the youth. In this regard, he underscored that textbooks can promote the respect for the diversity of beliefs; encourage mutual understanding and critical thinking to address prejudices; and promote wellbeing.

    Afterwards, Ms. Bonfiglio made a presentation on the “Info Hive” Platform, a project initiated by CELL and will be soon accessible to the public, stressing that it is a tool designed to catalyze a worldwide change of the approaches to the issues of education, health, wellbeing and conflict.

    In the same vein, Ms. Bonfiglio stated that the Foundation chose to design the “Info Hive” in the form of a smartphone application, out of its belief in the principle of democratization, as that the largest possible number of users can access these applications, hence they are the most fit to achieve this principle.

    As soon as the presentation ended, the floor was opened for discussion between ISESCO’s experts and CELL during which the two parts agreed on the importance to promote and develop cooperation since the theme of the Meeting is of paramount importance, given the exacerbating issues of political and military, migration and asylum.

    At the close of the Meeting, the two parties agreed to continue coordination for further cooperation and give effect to joint action in the “Info Hive” Project. To this effect, Dr. Ritzen requested Dr. AlMalik to engage ISESCO’s experts in developing the Platform to launch it within a year. Similarly, CELL requested ISESCO to invite education experts in its Member States to contribute to the Project.

    Teaching Arabic Language in Digital School. . . a symposium to celebrate ISESCO celebration

    As part of the celebration of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) on the occasion of the World Arabic Language Day, held today at its headquarters under the theme “Arabic Language and Artificial Intelligence” in cooperation with the Saudi Cultural Attaché in Rabat, the Association of Institutions of Teaching Arabic Language to Non-Arabic Speakers, and the Moroccan Association of Arabic Calligraphy, a symposium was held under the theme “Teaching Arabic Language in Digital School”.

    The symposium was moderated by Dr. Abdullah Al-Obeid, President of the Association of Institutions of Teaching Arabic Language to Non-Arabic Speakers. It mainly discussed the relationship of Arabic language with modern digital applications and programs and their importance in teaching and learning Arabic.

    At the outset, Dr. Mohamed El Hannach, Teacher of General Linguistics and Arabic language at Sidi Mohamed ben Abdellah University in Fes, President of the International Agency of NLP (IA4NLP) of the Kingdom of Morocco, made a presentation entitled “Arabic language and digital applications: teaching platforms” wherein he tackled the digital educational resources in Arabic language for non-Arabic speakers for keeping up with future developments, as well as the digitalization of teaching platforms and its benefits and drawbacks within the technological development.

    Afterwards, Dr. Tarek Makhlouf, Director of Granada Editions based in Paris, made a presentation on “the Institution and its educational models for enhancing students’ level”. Then the audience listened to another presentation by Mr. Reda al-Rejibi, Director of Teaching Division at Granada Editions, on the platform of teaching Arabic language ‘Anas Digital’.

    Dr. Hicham bin Saleh al-Qadi, representative of Arabic Linguistics Institute, Assistant Teacher of Applied Linguistics at King Saud University in Riyadh, tackled the issue of Artificial Intelligence in his presentation on the role of AI in teaching languages in general and Arabic language in particular.

    The floor was then given to Dr. Ahmed Alaoui Abdelaoui, staff member of the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences of Sidi Mohamed ben Abdellah University in Fes, to make his presentation on the role of the inclusive language in ensuring the cultural security of Arab countries. He also stressed the importance of language as a tool for unifying society given its communication, cultural, knowledge, historical and civilization roles that keep society coherent and harmonious. Besides, he raised the problematic of multilingualism in the Arab world, and stressed the need to rationalize each language in its natural environment within the linguistic system of the Arab world.

    On her part, Dr. Hakima Shami, Director of the Centre of Documentation and Cultural Activities at the Regional Delegation of Islamic Affairs in Casablanca, made a presentation on “Arabic calligraphy and the Moroccan specificity”. She highlighted the emergence of Arabic calligraphy in Morocco, the beginning of Moroccan calligraphy, and the most famous types of Moroccan calligraphy. She concluded her presentation by reminding that “Arabic calligraphy and the Moroccan specificity is a call for reconciling with our mother tongue. It is a problematic of communication between the past and the present behaviors in line with the modern era’s requirements.

    At the close of the symposium, the floor was given to the audience, who made fruitful interventions and raised many questions.  

    ISESCO Director General: Promoting Arabic is our shared responsibility, each from his/her position

    **The Organization works with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and ALECSO to draft a reference framework for teaching Arabic

    **It is crucial to benefit from information technology to facilitate teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers

    The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, reaffirmed that promoting Arabic in its educational, scientific, and media dimensions is a shared responsibility, which we must all shoulder, each from his/her position.

    In his address at the opening of ISESCO’s celebration of World Arabic Language Day, which kicked off today at the Organization’s headquarters, under the theme: “Arabic and Artificial Intelligence”, Dr. AlMalik stated that, as part of its new vision, ISESCO directs attention toward renewing the curricula, methods and tools of teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers. This attention stems from the Organization’s conviction in the need to benefit from the tremendous opportunities ICT provides with regard to facilitating teaching and learning Arabic in different cultural environments.

    In addition, the Director General revealed that ISESCO is currently working with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) to lay the methodological foundations and draft a comprehensive plan for devising a joint reference framework for teaching and learning Arabic, which is hoped to be completed in the upcoming two years. This major civilizational initiative is expected to fill in a methodological gap in the Arabic teaching programmes, and assess the competencies of its learners.

                Dr. AlMalik also wondered if the Islamic world sufficiently exerted efforts to allow Arabic to keep up with the rapidly-changing changes, stressing that the Islamic world is before a situation that requires taking cognizance and drawing lessons: despite its distinctive aspects among major world languages, Arabic lost the head start and leadership in disseminating sciences, knowledge and innovations.

                Likewise, he warned that the digital content written in Arabic in different fields does not exceed 3% of the total world contents on the Internet. He added that proactive studies addressing the repercussions of the digital revolution and the Internet of things state that the patterns of formal, teacher-based schools will witness drastic and rapid change in the next two decades, moving towards an educational system based on digital software and applications, a change already taking shape in advanced countries through digital classrooms and the system of smart and open schools.

                The Director General concluded his address with a poem he wrote on Arabic language in the hope for a brighter future for it.

    ISESCO workshop to enhance Arabic language skills for non-Arabic speakers launched in Istanbul

    Today, the workshop on “Enhancing Arabic Language Skills for non-Arabic speaking Students” at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakef University (FSMVU) in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Co-held by ISESCO, FSMVU and Granada Editions, the workshop opened with a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran followed by a welcome address by the hosting university thanking ISESCO for its efforts in serving Arabic language and promoting its position in non-Arabic speaking Islamic countries.

    In its address, ISESCO stressed the necessity to promote cooperation and coordinate efforts to handle educational and academic challenges facing Arabic education institutions in non-Arabic speaking Member States. It also highlighted the attention it accords to upgrading the work of these institutions by dedicating a considerable portion of its projects and programmes to laying the solid foundations for developed educational and qualification programmes for the educational staff operating in this field.

    Attended by 30 educational officials and Arabic teachers from all over Turkey, the workshop, which is held on 27-30 November 2019, is organized as part of ISESCO’s plan and educational programmes, in implementation of the recommendations of its Executive Council and the resolutions of its General Conference that call for meeting the priorities and needs of Member States; as well as the academic cooperation programme with Granada Editions for 2019.

    ISESCO launches a Caravan on the use of technology for educational purposes in Nigeria

    Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), launched an awareness raising caravan on rationalizing the use of technological means for educational purposes, on 13-15 November 2019 in Abuja, in coordination with Nigerian National Commission for ISESCO and Federal Ministry of Education of Nigeria,

    This caravan, which benefits 60 primary and secondary school teachers and education professionals, aims at enhancing their competences to integrate information and communication technologies into the educational process.

    Nigerian National Commission for ISESCO organized the caravan’s launch ceremony, which was attended by Deputy Minister of Education of Nigeria as well as a number of central directors and heads of departments and services at the Ministry.

    This initiative is part of ISESCO’s efforts and new vision aiming at providing the necessary technical and educational expertise for the staff of education and training sector to make the best use of these technologies and take advantage of their various applications supporting communication, cooperation, critical and innovative thinking, organization, research and problem-solving.

    ISESCO to participate in technical meeting to prepare reference framework for teaching Arabic

    The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), through the League of the Institutions of Teaching Arabic to non-Arabic Speakers (LITAAS), will participate in the technical meeting on the “Preparation of Joint Reference Framework for Teaching Arabic Language”, to be hosted by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in Tunis on 14-15 November 2019.

    Organized at the invitation of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the meeting will explore ways to develop and finance references and executive mechanisms likely to give rise to a general unified framework for teaching Arabic to serve as a reference for the various institutions of teaching and learning Arabic language at the Arab and international levels.

    In addition to ISESCO, LITAAS, IsDB, and ALECSO, the meeting will be attended by the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS); the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU); the Association of Arab Universities (AAU); the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils (FARC) based in Khartoum, the Sudan; the Arabic Language Academy of Damascus (ALAD), Syria; the National Center for Assessment in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and Attanal Alarabi Institution for Training and Testing, Amman, Jordan.

    ISESCO and LITAAS will be represented in the event by Mr. Adel Bouraoui, Supervisor of the Directorate of Education at ISESCO.

    ISESCO Centre in Malaysia holds a regional workshop

    Yesterday, 04 November 2019, in Melaka, Malaysia, the regional workshop on “Using most efficient educational methods in teaching Arabic language for non-Arabic speakers in Southeast Asian countries” kicked off. It is being held by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), in cooperation with the Malaysian Ministry of Education and Granada Editions.

    The 5-day workshop, supervised by ISESCO Educational Centre in Malaysia, benefits 58 participants, including teachers and educational counsellors from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam.

    The opening session was attended by the representative of the Malaysian Ministry of Education and a number of senior officials of the Department of Islamic Education in Melaka State, Malaysia.

    ISESCO is represented in this workshop by Dr. Abdul Razif Zaini, Director of ISESCO Educational Centre in Malaysia.

    ISESCO takes part in 14th Edition of e-Learning Africa in Côte d’Ivoire

    The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) is taking part in the 14th International Conference & Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development—E-Learning Africa, being held under the theme “The Keys to the Future: Learnability and Employability”, in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, on 23-25 October 2019.

    This conference is one the key international thematic events that address the role of technology in supporting learning, training and skills development. It also bring together experts, academicians, professionals, investors and people interested in the future of education in Africa.

    The event’s programme features holding core dialogues, discovery demos, expertise exchange sessions, knowledge factories, panel discussions, and plenary sessions. It also includes holding high-level ministerial roundtables for African ministers of education, training and ICT.

    This is not the first time ISESCO participates in this event; the Organization had taken part and co-held previous editions of e-Learning Africa. In this edition, ISESCO gave a presentation in one of the plenary sessions on ISESCO’s Project on “Educational Technology in Service of Alternative Teaching and Learning Patterns”, entitled “ICT and Leadership for Teachers’ Professional Growth: ISESCO’s Initiatives”. The presentation aimed to highlight the strategic orientations of ISESCO’s new vision regarding the use of ICT in service of education, and its role in teachers’ professional growth.

    ISESCO is represented in this conference by Mr. Aziz Elhajir, Programme Specialist at the Directorate of Education.

    Training on educational methods in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers in Malaysia

    Today at ISESCO Educational Centre in Malaysia, a “training session on educational methods in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers in Malaysia” kicked off in coordination with the Directorate of Education of the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and in cooperation with the Islamic Education Department at the Ministry of Education of Malaysia and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

    This two-day session, held in Fadenj Sojana High School in Jerantut City, Pahang Darul Makmur, aims to provide participants with mechanisms and methods to benefit from modern technologies in the field of teaching Arabic language through training on the use of computer educational programmes in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers.

    The training, which brings together forty two (42) teachers from primary schools in Pahang Darul Makmur State, is the first of its kind held in this region for the benefit of Arabic language teachers. The training is supervised by the expert and associate professor, Dr. Jan dine Sardi from Universiti Teknologi MARA.