More than five years since its work in the United Arab Emirates began, Beacon College has opened a new chapter in its partnership with that country’s leading advocacy group for students with learning differences, President Dr. George Hagerty said recently.
From collaborative training workshops and college transition programs to streaming lectures, Beacon has reached hundreds of UAE students, parents and educators though its 2017 alliance with the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties (SCLD) – an agency based in UAE’s 3rd-largest emirate. Beacon is the first U.S. college accredited to award bachelor’s degrees primarily to students with learning disabilities, ADHD and other learning issues.
Now the Beacon-SCLD team is expected to expand that work to the Sharjah Education Academy, which provides academic and professional training to educators from across the UAE and abroad. It was established in July 2020 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah and member of the UAE’s Supreme Council.
President Hagerty and his wife Dr. Oksana Hagerty were invited to meet with academy leaders in November while attending the SCLD’s third annual conference on education for students with learning differences. In a two-hour session, they discussed the potential for meaningful collaboration in training educators and parents in meeting the unique needs of the learning-challenged.
This latest joint effort highlights Beacon’s expertise on the international stage and Sharjah’s role as an educational leader in the UAE and beyond, President Hagerty said. “There is no more striking example than the Beacon-SCLD partnership of how shared knowledge and expertise can advance two committed organizations,” he said. “Though we’re set in two different cultural landscapes and 8,000 miles apart, the reputations of both have grown substantially. Both have been transformed because we understand service organizations are at their best when they find partners with whom to share effective practices.
