Combating coronavirus: Dubai-based academy offers education at Dh83 per month

Dubai - In the wake of the pandemic, the academy ramped up efforts to help parents who couldn't send their kids to school.

Coming to the rescue of families who lost their livelihood to Covid-19, a Dubai-based education technology academy is offering support to students who have had to drop out of school. For one academic year, they will have to pay only Dh83 per month.
Coded Minds, an iSTEAM education technology firm, launched this nationwide initiative called 'Hope Academy' on Flag Day last year, aiming to make education accessible to all. However, in the wake of the pandemic, the academy ramped up efforts to help parents who couldn't send their kids to school.
Omar Farooqui, founder of Coded Minds, said upon learning that some parents could not even afford to shell out Dh83 a month, they have decided to provide an "extremely flexible options". And for those who couldn't pay at all, the academy is extending provisions to cover the educational expenses of the child for up to a year.
"We believe that inability to pay should not prevent any child from getting education. This will be an alternative solution where we will undertake all efforts possible to ensure that each child is compensated for missing the cycle of education," Farooqui said.
Their Hope Academy is open to all nationalities, and they are no particular criteria for admission. "We just take a brief interview of the child and then decide which class we can put him in. For us, education is the priority, nothing else." Farooqui said.
"We will soon offer a service to parents where we will further facilitate the financing of their child's education to ease parents worries further. We are finalising the module and will announce it very soon. Meanwhile, parents who are interested to avail of this opportunity can register with us."
Well-trained teachers
Around 100 teachers, assistants and other academic staff are engaged at the academy. Coded Minds' teachers are well trained in handling children and everyone is treated equally, the founder said.
"They are well-acquainted with every student's profile and every child is dealt with individually as we cater to students coming from different backgrounds, nationalities, age groups, circumstances and IQs. But the best part of these classes is that there is no difference between a driver's child and a director's child. Everyone is treated equally with love and respect."
For more information on the enrollment process at Hope Academy, families may e-mail hope@coded-minds.org
HOW THE ACADEMY WORKS
Coded Minds is a STEM education firm, so its classes focus on core subjects like information technology, mathematics, science, and English. Students are given certificates. Then, the academy coordinates with schools to allow their students to sit for board exams.
Before the pandemic struck, the academy was running three on-site campuses in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ajman, with over 1,500 students. However, since on-campus classes had been suspended, it started holding sessions virtually.
"Since March we have been holding classes virtually. Both parents and students are happy with this system as they are saving a lot of time, effort and money as many had to travel long distances to come and attend these classes," Farooqui said.
"We will continue these classes online for as long as we can and only once we are sure that it is safe to bring children on campus physically, will we start the physical classes."
saman@khaleejtimes.com