HBMeU Establishment at KidZania®allows children to experience university life through various entertaining activities and educational games
Dubai, UAE, April 12th, 2012 – In line with the direction of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council and President of Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University (HBMeU), His Excellency Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University, opened today (Thursday, April 12, 2012) the HBMeU Establishment at KidZania® Dubai, providing an opportunity for children to experience university life at the award-winning family edutainment center. HBMeU will manage its establishment at KidZania® Dubai, a city of entertainment and educational games that is customized for children, for the next three years.
HBMeU Establishment at KidZania® Dubai provides children between 5-16 years with a wide range of learning activities and educational games using custom-built computer applications. Based on their results in the educational games, learners will also receive a Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree certificate. These certificates in turn allow children to earn extra KidZos, the official currency of KidZania®, in their related professions Children can save their KidZos in the bank at KidZania® or spend them at specific establishments in the edutainment center.
His Excellency Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said: “In line with our commitment to the direction of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of HBMeU, to promote a culture of e-learning among children, we are taking the first step by opening the HBMeU Establishment at KidZania® Dubai. HBMeU’s partnership with Emaar Retail for the opening of the HBMeU Establishment at KidZania® complements our continuing efforts to cultivate a culture of learning by reaching out to a much wider cross-section of the population. We have developed specialized learning materials that will allow children to appreciate the joys of learning at an early age and to encourage them to pursue higher learning and become part of the HBMeU family in the future. HBMeU Establishment also serves as a platform to directly and indirectly communicate our key messages to parents, who certainly play a very important role in molding the learning habits of our youth.”
Arif Amiri, CEO, Emaar Retail LLC, said: “By integrating education with leisure, KidZania® Dubai, which is approved by the UAE Ministry of Education for school tours, has redefined children’s entertainment in the region. The center also is a strong testament to the partnerships that we have fostered to offer rewarding edutainment experiences for our young visitors. HBMeU’s track record as a premier academic institution in the region makes it an ideal choice to manage the children’s university at KidZania® Dubai. HBMeU’s expertise in using advanced technology and modern teaching concepts sets a truly conducive learning environment which will benefit visitors to KidZania®.”
HBMeU is the first e-learning institute in the Arab World that was established with the vision to develop a new learning process through the implementation of learning practices characterised by flexibility, quality and diversity to strengthen self-leadership among learners and prepare them socially and academically for a future career through integration in the job market. HBMeU’s philosophy is based on vital methods that have been developed through extensive research and development by specialists from all over the world. These methods include offering high quality programs, supporting the pursuit of lifelong learning, promoting the freedom of information, reinforcing the culture of excellence and innovation and providing education for everyone in line with the highest standards of comprehensiveness and credibility. The university seeks to constantly identify knowledge needs, support research and development programs and create an outstanding environment for e-learning.
Spread over 80,000 sq ft, KidZania® Dubai, has offices, university, fire station, race track, radio station, pizzeria, hospital, bank, theatre and ATM machines, among others, all scaled down to a smaller, child-friendly size. With over 80 professions to choose from, visiting students have a wide and unprecedented variety of learning experiences awaiting them at KidZania®.