UAE’s Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic pledge Dhs4m to education ministry

UAE-based banks Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic have pledged Dhs4m from their charity fund towards the Ministry of Education (MoE) to facilitate the ongoing nation-wide distance learning programmes.

The contribution – which comprises of Dhs2m from Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic each – will help provide laptops to UAE students to support their e-learning endeavours.

The support comes at a time when the ministry has extended the nation-wide distance learning initiatives – earlier scheduled to end on April 4, with schools expected to resume on April 5 – until the end of the academic year, in a step to safeguard public health and help halt the spread of the contagion.

Read: All UAE schools, universities to extend e-learning programmes until June

“As a leading local banking group, Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic are honoured to contribute to the Ministry of Education’s distance learning initiatives,” said Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD and chairman of Emirates Islamic.

“Nothing is more important for us than the health, safety and well-being of our colleagues, customers and the community and the development of our future generations. We want to help students stay connected and for education to remain uninterrupted during this uncertain time.”

“We believe that public-private sector collaborations have a strong role to play in keeping our community protected and resilient and we remain confident that we will all emerge through this experience stronger together. We would also like to take this opportunity to applaud all our dedicated teachers across the UAE as they work to support children with online learning during these challenging times – you are all heroes.”

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in China late last year, the UAE has reported a total of 1,799 cases, including 10 deaths.

Also read: Covid-19: Schools at liberty to cut tuition fee; transportation fee must be refunded – KHDA