UAE university students studying science and engineering are missing out on crucial lab work as they adapt to distance learning.
Many courses require elements of practical study, including final year dentistry students who work with patients.
University campuses in the country are currently closed as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic.
Online distance learning programmes in the Emirates are due to continue until the end of this academic year.
Mustafa Kaizer Jawadwala, 21, said he was a fourth year aerospace engineering student and was working towards building a drone for a class project.
Our major projects are being affected as engineering students because we're more inclined to be making physical products
“Our major projects are being affected as engineering students because we’re more inclined to be making physical products," he said.
"I’m not able to use the lab on campus for assembling or testing my project."
Mr Jawadwala, from Dubai, said his university was still monitoring the work he and other students were doing.
He said staff were committed to ensuring student projects were completed even while distance learning was in place.
“I have finished with the design and analysis [stage] and as of now I am working towards integrating artificial intelligence into the project," Mr Jawadwala said.
"Once the situation is back to normal I will be able to do the assembly and physical testing of the model."
Jeremy Gideon Jayachandran said he was pursuing a Bachelors in technology, specialising in solar and alternate energy.
He is now in his final year and has a major project due, most of which he managed to complete before the UAE’s 'Stay Home’ campaign began.
His research involves a water purification system that harnesses solar power. But with labs no longer available, Mr Jayachandran said simulation software was helping him continue his studies for the time being.
"Our college has understood that we are in the midst of unprecedented times and are making the necessary adjustments," he told The National.
Ahmed Mazin Mohammed, 23, is a dentistry student who is also in his final year.
He said he was meant to be graduating in July and was due to be carrying out a range of simple dental procedures on patients this term.
Now, he said some students had concerns that their missing out on clinical training might affect their studies.
“It is practice, so [it] builds up confidence,” said Mr Mohammed. “Obviously, with no campuses open, the clinical training won’t be there anymore, so it’s affected students this year, especially the fifth year dental students.”
Professor Hossam Hamdy, the chancellor of Gulf Medical University in Ajman, said the disruption had forced the university to come up with new and innovative methods of teaching their students.
He said staff were teaching via virtual patient learning, an online tool where medical students interacted with artificial intelligence programmes instead of real patients.
Prof Hamdy went on to say that dentistry, nursing and physiotherapy students would have their final grades calculated based on how many practical procedures they had carried out prior to distance learning beginning.
“These students, for example, are required to have a certain number of procedures and clinic hours that they’ve done,” he said.
“But for those who are graduating this year, we will assess how many they had up until March and we will review if we can justify those numbers so they can graduate.
“We are taking into consideration that they also have to do a one-year-long internship after graduating in order to get their licence.”
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')
Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
