Tag Archives: dubai
Penalties for offering private tuitions in Sharjah
Penalties for offering private tuitions in Sharjah Afkar Abdullah / 6 February 2014 Sharjah Education Zone issues circular imposing tough penalties against teachers offering private tuitions. Private tuitions can affect the quality of education provided at schools and add to the financial burden of parents. — Photo used for illustrative purposes Following several complaints from parents about teachers offering private tuitions to students, the Sharjah Education Zone issued a circular imposing tough penalties against such teachers. Offering tuitions to students is strictly prohibited by the Ministry of Education, as it affects the quality of education provided at schools and adds more financial burden on parents. Some teachers reportedly force students to inform their parents that they would have to take tuition classes citing lack of time to complete the syllabus in class. Mona Shuhail, Deputy Director of the Sharjah Education Zone, said they received several complaints from parents about tuitions being offered to their children in private schools. Based on the regulations of the Ministry of Education, the authority issued the circular and distributed it to all private and public schools in Sharjah. The circular warned teachers that giving private tuitions would result in tough penalties including warnings, fines and dismissal. “The education zone recently fined some private schools which were found promoting private tuitions for its students after schools hours,” Shuhail said. If a teacher is found violating regulations, a written warning is first issued, and if the teacher repeats the offence, the zone instructs the school to terminate the teacher’s services. “The practice (of promoting tuitions), which is increasing at private schools, affects education development and the financial budgets of parents,” she said. Hessah Al Khajah, Director of Private Schools at the Sharjah Education Zone, said parents and teachers are equally responsible for the practice. Al Khajah urged schools managements to take all efforts to combat it so as to improve the quality of education. The zone had earlier introduced ‘education strengthening classes’ at a little extra charge to combat private tuitions. School principals Khaleej Times spoke to said “poor teaching processes” at some schools force parents to opt for private tuition classes. “Some parents can’t afford to pay for private tuitions in addition to the annual school fees,” one principal said. – afkarali@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Over 1.2 million visited Global Village during DSF
Over 1.2 million visited Global Village during DSF Lily B. Libo-on / 6 February 2014 International entertainers at the village during the month-long DSF included American street performer, Todd Various; drummers from Kerala and the Level Up acrobatic dance show. Over 1.2 million families and tourists experienced shopping, fun and entertainment at the Global Village, Dubai’s leading family entertainment and cultural destination, during the month-long Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), which ended on February 2. Kuwaiti couple Talal and Fatima Al Jaber said every year they take their four children to the Global Village for the fun rides, shopping and dining experience which they cannot experience in their country. The Global Village, with its numerous pavilions, food outlets, amazing shows and fun fair, provides wholesome entertainment for the whole family. —KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd Their eldest son, Midhat, likes everything at the Global Village, from the variety of food to the amazing shows, toys and clothes — everything is delightful. “I love all the rides. My sisters, brother and I go for all of them. So nice.” The Dubai Shopping Festival Parade comprising 700 performers makes it the biggest parade of its kind in the Middle East, the international shows and the numerous performances taking place at the 30 pavilions have all enthralled visitors from within the UAE and abroad. International entertainers at the village during the month-long DSF included American street performer, Todd Various; drummers from Kerala and the Level Up acrobatic dance show. Ahmad Hussein, Director of Operations at the Global Village, said the village recorded some 95,000 tourists and residents visiting it last Friday, January 31, the last weekend before DSF ended. “We are extremely pleased with the number of visitors during the Dubai Shopping Festival. We made sure there was some activity for everyone to enjoy during this special time of the year. The sheer range and number of unique entertainment and cultural shows made the Global Village more attractive this year. The festival itself is a great opportunity for the public and the private sector to work together, and brings together a unique experience between shopping and entertainment,” Hussain said. Visitors to the Global Village also experienced the excitement during DSF with the park hosting the Dubai Shopping Festival Raffle Draw. The daily raffle saw lucky winners walk away with two brand new cars — Infiniti QX60 and G25 — as well as a cash prize of Dh100,000. For February, special promotional packages have been introduced for families. Entry will be free for children below the age of 12 every Monday, or Family Day, and there will be a discount of Dh10 on food for every Dh60 spent at its most popular restaurants. A mix of cultural and modern entertainment offerings this February include the Fairy Tales on Ice, which is being done in a specially designed rink just beside the World Culture Stage. Plays such as Aladdin and Cinderella will be performed there. Monday saw the story of Pinocchio being performed in the Fairy Tales on Ice. Visitors can also enjoy the high flying six-man All Star Dunkers, the rhythmic Argentinian Gauchos performance, Level Up and the Chinese Unicyclists on the World Culture Stage. — lily@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service Staff Reporter / 5 February 2014 Users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones. Emirates Post’s PO Box users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones, thanks to a new mobile service launched by the company. The e-PO Box service, which allows users to see which all mails have arrived before physically visiting their post boxes, is available on mobile devices from February 3, said Ibrahim bin Karam, chief commercial officer, Emirates Post Group (EPG). “If your post box is in Karama post office and you need to know if at all any mails have landed or if there is any important mail that you need to collect urgently, you can check it on your mobile before visiting the post office,” he told Khaleej Times . All the envelopes are generally scanned by the mail-sorting machines. These scanned images are now supplied to the users, he explained. Other e-services made available on mobile devices include track and trace; location maps for post offices; submitting customer enquiries, complaints and suggestions; complaint tracking and rate calculator. Bin Karam said in a press statement that the project is inspired by the UAE government’s Smart Government initiative, as mobile phone penetration in the UAE is among the highest in the world. The next phase of the m-Services project will see Emirates Post venturing into e-commerce by the last quarter of this year. “We see immense potential for e-commerce as Emirates Post Group boasts a world-class mailing and delivery system,” said Bin Karam. Under the e-commerce venture, he said, the company is introducing a new concept of e-greeting, in which an online greeting card will be converted into a physical card and delivered by mail to the recipient. This service will allow users to select and customise e-greeting cards, which will then be printed by Emirates Post and delivered. Such cards can be delivered locally and internationally. Another service, e-stamps, will enable people to place orders for UAE stamps from any part of the world, and have them delivered to their doorstep after making payment online using credit cards. This service is expected to attract the interest of stamp collectors in a big way. Additionally, Bin Karam said a selected range of electronic products, flowers and other items would be listed on the website, and customers will be able to order them online and have them delivered through the postal and courier network of Emirates Post Group. “We are currently short-listing suppliers for the e-commerce project. We will keep adding new categories to the catalogue as time goes by and expand the product range, depending on demand,” he added. Emirates Post’s foray into Smart Government services is in keeping with the rapid increase in users of mobile devices and smart phones in the UAE. The m-Services are also offered in line with the government’s Smart City project in Dubai. According to figures released by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) in December 2013, mobile-phone penetration in the UAE stood at 181 per cent and smart phone penetration was 73.8 per cent, the highest in the world. sajila@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
