Home 5 Articles and Reports 5 Minister Backs Support Local UAE Publishers

Minister Backs Support Local UAE Publishers

by | Oct 30, 2018 | Articles and Reports, News

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will grow to become “the source and lighthouse of education in the Arab World”, His Excellency Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education UAE, told delegates when he gave the keynote address at the Publishers Conference ahead of the Sharjah International Book Fair.

“We want to work with local publishers to empower the next generation of readers.  We are investing hugely in education to enable us to compete at a global level.  We want the UAE to be the source and lighthouse of education in the Arab World.  Our role is to realise the vision of our Ruler, Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, to build a knowledge-based economy.  We express our gratitude to His Highness for his generous support.”

The National Media Council also delivered a message on the importance of books to the growth of the UAE, in accordance with the vision of its founder, the late Sheikh Zayed.

The Minister announced the government’s intention to work more closely with local publishers and said that contracts with 43 publishers to produce 2,000 new titles to support a new curriculum had already been signed.

Introducing the panel on the challenges facing the education market, José Borghino, General Secretary of the International Publishers Association (IPA), said the best education systems were those “where publishers work with governments as stakeholders.  A healthy education system is vital to the growth of a knowledge economy”.  But he warned that in some parts of the world – notably Hungary where they have recently nationalised the education system – too much state control was taking choice away from teachers.  “Education systems work best when teachers have more than one book from which to choose,” he said.

Rashid Al Kous, executive director of the Emirates Publishers Association, said that discussions were underway to adopt ISBNs and that there was an opportunity for Emirati publishers to reduce the reliance of imported educational titles.  “We have more than 130 publishers in the EPA now, and we are here to work.”

Wilmar Diepgrond, Chair of the IPA’s Education Publishing Forum (EPF), said that three issues were important.  “Firstly, choice – the teacher must be able to choose from a large range.  Secondly, localisation – education publishing should be local and I’m glad to hear the Minister voice his support for local publishers.  And finally, cooperation – you need governments and educational publishers to work together.”

Catalonian publisher Jaume Vicens, vice-chair of the EPF, said that working with the Ministry of Education in his country had been a positive experience and “we established open, learning management systems together.

Finally, Borghino noted that open, competitive education markets were ones which allowed “ideas to flourish – and he reiterated how encouraged he was encouraged by the Minister’s backing of local publishers in the UAE.

Recent News

17Jul
Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin said release date of On Winter Hill would be changed in order to ‘support the author’ after allegations that Raynor Winn lied in her bestselling memoir. Author Raynor Winn’s new book has been delayed because questions about her bestselling work The Salt Path have caused her and her husband “considerable distress”, her publisher has […]

17Jul
Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the Willows, written by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, will publish in March […]

16Jul
Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was Bonnier publisher. Among the authors who are making the jump with them […]

Related Posts

Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the...

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was...

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

In a timeless moment etched into the memory of human heritage, the sun of Sharjah rose once again on the map of the world, this time through the gateway of deep history. At its recently concluded 47th session in Paris, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this