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Job skills, sports and health care in sharp focus

Posted by TerranceV | Top Stories | Posted on September 27th, 2011

Dubai: Job oriented education, development of sports and a socially responsible health care sector with special focus on senior citizens are top on the agenda of Federal National Council (FNC) election candidate Ali Salim Ali Obaid Al Jallaf Al Muhairi.

"My election platform is based on a foundation of honesty, transparency and conformity with the vision of our leadership, and a strong belief that change starts with each and every individual and with the active participation in the development of our country," said Al Muhairi, who is a senior director, project management, DP World — UAE region.

Emphasising the need for a higher education system that equips UAE graduates with job skills, he said the system should include vocational training. It should also involve partnership between corporate and educational sector for better and increased employment opportunities for youngsters.

"Free education in itself is not enough to enable our young men and women to find gainful employment. A true awakening within the society is needed for sustainable development of higher education," he added.

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Repositories

He also feels the need of a "socially-responsible approach" in the health care sector.

Providing senior citizens, who are the repositories of Emirati tradition, knowledge and wisdom, with care through experts are the need of the hour especially as the number of senior citizens is growing, he said.

"We can build a national cadre of health care counsellors by giving specialist training in culturally sensitive old age care to young Emirati graduates would contribute toward attaining this goal," he added.

Another focus area for him is sports, and he said that the UAE is one of the most promising countries in the region for the development of a vibrant culture of sports.

"In the 40 years since the UAE’s formation, we have achieved a lot in nurturing soccer as our national sport and have also excelled in equestrian sports.

"This focus must now be given to other sporting disciplines, especially if we are to fulfil our dream of bidding for the Olympic Games in 2024."

Calling for a proactive legislation and policies on promoting sports as an important pillar of nation-building and create benchmarks for schools and colleges to inculcate this sporting culture among our young citizens, he stressed on the establishing of specialist bodies and institutions to identify sporting strengths and actively develop potential world champions in diverse disciplines is also needed apart from focused policies and action on developing champions with our Olympic bid in mind.

"After all, if we are to host such a prestigious event, we must also make sure we keep some of those gold medals at home," he said.