The University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+ and the Sharjah Education Academy are embarking on a project to develop a new Postgraduate Diploma Programme for teachers in the Emirate of Sharjah. The aim is to enhance teacher training and the education system at large, both regionally and internationally.

The University of Helsinki HY+ was selected from amongst 35 esteemed universities in the world to collaborate with the Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA), and the Sharjah Education Academy (SEA) in the development of the new Postgraduate Diploma Programme.

HY+ has collaborated with SPEA and SEA for the past two years in different education sector development programmes. The new Postgraduate Diploma Programme is a ground-breaking project to develop a sustainable, scalable, and research-based teacher training process in Sharjah.

“This project is an outcome of a long process of exchanging ideas and sharing values during the past two years. The programme truly represents our joint vision of the future of teacher training”, says the Project Director Minna Saadé from HY+.

“We strive for excellence in education, aiming to bring Sharjah to the world and the world to Sharjah. Exceptional partnerships breed excellence to new heights. Therefore, we are both proud and happy to announce our partnership, our journey to excellence with the University of Helsinki”, says H.E. Dr Muhadditha  Alhashimi, the President of the Sharjah Education Academy and Chairperson of the Sharjah Private Education Authority.

“Educational reformation post-pandemic is no longer a mere choice but necessity; and the best way to lead this change is through building teacher skills who will lead this reformation in education”, says Dr Hunada Kanbar, Chief Learning Officer in Sharjah Education Academy and School Improvement Advisor in Sharjah Private Education Authority.

A Postgraduate Diploma Programme Designed with Education Experts from Finland

The role of HY+ in creating the Postgraduate Diploma Programme is to create both online and face-to-face content for the programme, and to train the faculty of SEA to deliver the programme with the highest quality.

The programme emphasizes merging theory with practice by promoting research activities and including elements of teaching practice. These activities will benefit the local schools directly by graduating active teachers, who will be able to develop schools through researched-based knowledge.

Furthermore, HY+ assists SEA in the accreditation process, and works with SEA to create a system for the quality assurance to maintain the high standards in the future.

Professor Kirsti Lonka from the University of Helsinki is the Academic Director of the project, and she and her team will design the programme in collaboration with SEA.

The programme will enroll its’ first students in January 2022, and it is targeted for two groups of participants. The first group consists of new university graduates with a bachelor’s degree in different subjects. The aim is that the graduates will get outstanding pedagogical skills from the programme, and it will also prepare them to pass their teacher license exams with the highest marks.

The second group is composed of teachers, who will complete the programme as a part-time in-service training to enhance their teaching practices.

The programme also includes elements that help the participants to advance the culture in their own schools, which means that the schools will benefit directly from the programme. The programme will also be translated in Arabic during the second phase of the project in order to build the teacher capacities in a larger scale.

Further Information

Minna Saadé
Project Director
University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+ Ltd
+358 50 311 5814
minna.saade@hyplus.fi

University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+
HY+ is a fully-owned company of the University of Helsinki, the oldest, largest, and highest-ranked university in Finland. We provide continuing education and development services both in Finland and abroad. Globally, we offer services particularly for the educational sector and help organisations that are keen on developing their functions through education. Read more: hyplusglobal.fi