Lakbira Al Tunisian (Abu Dhabi)
Within an enthusiastic atmosphere and a supportive environment, 52 teams, with a total of 236 students and 104 supervisors from all the emirates of the country, competed in the finals of the Unified Robotics League, which is organized by the UAE Special Olympics for the third year at the Abu Dhabi Energy Center, with the support of ADNOC as a strategic partner, after a number of qualifying rounds. The exciting event, which began last October, saw 142 teams from 142 schools compete, with a total number of 640 students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their fellow students from first, second, and third year schools, in competitions designated for different age groups.
Unified teams
The league, whose finals were held on May 18, and the winners were crowned with medals and certificates of appreciation, relied on long rounds of project judging and student presentation of their projects, where unified teams were formed from various schools in the country that included students with mental and developmental disabilities, at least 50%, along with their peers. Students in their schools, as they worked together throughout the league competitions as one team to complete the programming tasks assigned to them.
Promote inclusion
Regarding the Unified Robotics Finals, Talal Al Hashemi, National Director of the UAE Special Olympics, said: “The Unified Robotics League achieves continuous success year after year, and we feel a real difference in the level of student projects and in the level of interaction of the unified teams with each other, which confirms that the goal of integration and development is being achieved, and that Participating schools and teachers gain greater experience, which is reflected in the level of participation and competition between the teams.”
Al Hashemi added, “Over the previous three rounds of the Unified Robotics League, Special Olympics UAE was keen to work with schools across the United Arab Emirates – during the league rounds – in order to enhance the values of inclusion and independent thinking and focus on self-reliance skills among students with special abilities.” The Unified Robotics League works to enhance the participating students’ knowledge of robotics and programming rules, to improve their communication skills, and to enhance their abilities for teamwork and decision-making.
Noble goals
In turn, Fatima Mohammed, Director of Strategy and Projects at the UAE Special Olympics, confirmed that the Unified Robotics League is one of the programs that falls under the umbrella of the Inclusive Schools Program that was launched in 2019, and today we are proud to organize this large forum that included 52 teams from all the emirates of the country and hundreds Of the students who participated in this program over a full year, while the headquarters of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the various Emirates hosted the qualifying rounds, she added that the goal is to bring together students with mental challenges and limited learning abilities with other students in unified activities by 50%; With the aim of removing barriers between them, and connecting bridges of friendship, by focusing on their abilities and skills, and avoiding academic comparisons among them, we also highlighted the students’ different abilities, by focusing on their skills in the field of robotics, technologies, and artificial intelligence, and today our students have different abilities. The ability to excel in these fields, along with other students after they have managed to break all barriers.
Rich experience
The UAE Special Olympics Unified Robotics Program is a rich experience that aims to introduce children with different abilities in basic education tracks to the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and robotics and inspire them to continue learning and taking it as a career path in their lives later. Students with different abilities of all ages can work with students with special needs. Special educational opportunities, so they can create friendships, learn effective communication skills, and explore different learning paths as they explore Lego and robotics-based activities across the Emirates.
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