2009-12-09 19:57:33
Dubai, 9 Dec, 2009 (WAM) - The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the American University in Dubai (AUD) to offer an annual grant for the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC).

The agreement was signed by Adel Al Shared, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, and Elias Bou Saab, Executive Vice-President of the American University in Dubai.

According to the MoU, the MBRF grant will provide scholarships to selected students who will attend the School and graduate with abachelor's degree in Communication and Information Studies. In this regard, MBRSC will recruit a balanced mix of Arab nationals to benefit from this scholarship programme.

Adel Al Shared said: "The MoU will help students at the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication to realize the Foundation's goal of developing future Arab leaders through encouraging academic excellence in the most talented and promising students from the Arab world.

"The Foundation and AUD will co-operate on the scholarship's implementation procedures to educate a new generation of leaders and drive the region's media sector into a new era." Commenting on the newly established relation with the Foundation, Elias Bou Saab said: "today marks a new chapter in the success story of the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication, launched with the special directives and support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai. We have been working relentlessly for the past couple of years on developing a leading Communication Program with the assistance of the University of Southern California and Communication Experts from the Arab world, paving the way for the School to become a beacon in its field by graduating practitioners and scholars who are better prepared to work in twenty-first century media".

Ali Jaber, Dean of the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication, said: " "The signing of this grant agreement brings the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication closer to becoming the foremost educational institution in the region providing world-class communication education with emphasis on writing in the Arabic language. This has never been done before, and we are proud to be pioneers in this regard".

Dean Jaber added that the School now has an enrollement of 134 students from different Arab and International countries.

AUD will be responsible for selecting students eligible for the scholarships based on pre-set criteria and academic merit. The MoU will also enable the Foundation to provide Arab students with an opportunity to acquire quality education in an environment that fosters academic and personal excellence.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is a non-profit organisation that aims to offer development opportunities through investing in resources that can build knowledge skills in the region, especially through education. With a US$10 billion endowment, the Foundation seeks to finance several projects and programmes that contribute to the creation of knowledge-based societies in the Arab world.

WAM/MAB