Honours for country's students and teachers

Dubai // Some of the UAE's best students and teachers were honoured for their achievements yesterday. Three teachers and 25 students from private schools were given the Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cambridge Award at the Mina A'Salam hotel in Dubai. The annual ceremony was hosted by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority and the University of Cambridge International Examinations, an exam board.

Awards were handed out to the top male and female students in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the rest of the country, to the students who posted the best scores in the UAE and in the world in their Cambridge international A-level, AS-level and IGCSE examinations. A special achievement award also honoured students who gained excellent results in difficult circumstances, and the Cambridge Award was given to students who had made outstanding contributions to their school communities. There was also an inspirational teacher award, for those who had motivated students to make a positive contribution to their schools.

Mohammed Ashraf Abd El Sabour, a graduate of Al Dhafra Private School in Al Ain, received awards for the top A-level scores in biology, chemistry, physics and maths. He also received an outstanding achievement award for the best score across all his A-levels. "I worked so hard for this in high school," he said. Achieving high scores, he added, was not difficult: "It's all about time management and knowing what you want to do. I wanted to be a doctor for so long and this was the incentive."

Mr Abd El Sabour is now studying medicine at Ain Shams University in Cairo, but hopes to finish his studies in the West. "My dream is to go study medicine abroad in the UK or the US," he said. One of Mr Abd El Sabour's classmates, Mohammed Walid Elshorbagy, posted the highest score in the world for AS-level maths. Mr Elshorbagy, 17, is a now an engineering student at the UAE university. He too is hoping to continue his education abroad. "I am looking for a scholarship for now," Mr Elshorbagy said.

"If I got a good offer it would be a good chance for me to go outside the country and complete my undergraduate programme." Among the girls honoured were Sana Fatima, of Al Nahda National School for Girls, who had the highest combined score of all the girls in Abu Dhabi, and Sonia Malik, of Al Dhafra Private School in Al Ain, who had the top girl's score outside Abu Dhabi and Dubai. klewis@thenational.ae