LONDON:  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has granted the UAE cities of Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah membership of its Global Network of Learning Cities as the culmination of its initiatives and achievements in the field of education, Emirates News Agency reported.

The GNLC is a forum that encourages members to share ideas and learning solutions while also promoting policy dialogue and peer learning to help forge partnerships, develop capacity, and instruments to support the development of learning cities.

The educational process is prioritized by the UAE as the pivot of comprehensive and sustainable development.

Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah were awarded GNLC membership after meeting all of the criteria for joining the network. The UNESCO decision was based on the nomination of the UN national committee, and the recommendations of an expert jury in light of meeting the stipulated conditions.

The two have joined 79 other cities, plus 294 cities from 76 countries in the UNESCO network.

Dr. Saeed Musabah Al-Kaabi, chairman of the Sharjah Education Council, emphasized the significance of UNESCO network membership as a renewed step by UNESCO towards Sharjah in demonstrating its efforts in the service of education.

Al-Kaabi pointed out that the membership recognizes Sharjah’s keenness to provide an integrated educational environment and cooperate with parents and students by listening to and involving them in the development process, establishing educational institutions, and supporting their roles to serve the education system.

Sharjah is also eager to develop a unified educational plan and public policy, as well as to develop skills based on best practices and to provide equal opportunities in education and services in accordance with quality, efficiency, and transparency standards.

In Ras Al-Khaimah, education is central to the Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to provide an inclusive education system for all. The emirate is working to establish additional programs to improve training and education across multiple disciplines.

Dr. Mohamed Abdullatif Khalifa, secretary-general of Ras Al-Khaimah’s Executive Council, said: “Membership of (the) GNLC will allow Ras Al-Khaimah to share with the world its experience of consolidating education into the cultural, social, developmental and economic fabric of our society, and sharing our best practices to similar advanced cities internationally. It will also allow the emirate to benefit from the experiences of member cities and contribute to developing global education policies as a basis for advancing human development and sustainability.”