Dubai set for Global Education and Skills Forum

Al Gore, Sarkozy, Farah, Hudson among high-profile attendees expected at sixth edition.

Dubai: Global educational leaders and former heads of states will be among the luminaries to attend the sixth annual Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) that is set to open on March 18.

Among the big names attending the two-day event will be Al Gore, former vice-president of the United States; Nicholas Sarkozy, former president of France; Jennifer Hudson, Oscar-winning actress and Grammy award winning singer; Sir Mo Farah, four-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion in long-distance running; Julia Gillard, former prime minister of Australia; Simon Schama, world-renowned historian, and Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares.




Held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the annual forum will focus on the theme of preparing young people for the world of 2030 and beyond.

GESF 2018, a Varkey Foundation initiative, to be held at The Atlantis, The Palm, will have leading figures from the public, private, social, entertainment and sports sectors in attendance.



The GESF will debate new ways for education, with Augmented Reality (AR) pioneer and Blippar CEO Ambarish Mitra giving his six big predictions for the future, as well as demonstrating how Augmented Reality (AR) and Computer Vision (CV), are set to transform education.

The climax of the GESF will be the award ceremony of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize 2018, the fourth edition of the prize.



Last year, adventurer Bear Grylls parachuted into the ceremony with the trophy, before Canadian teacher Maggie MacDonnell was announced as the winner by astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the International Space Station.

Source: Gulf News