Queen launches Edraak platform for open online courses

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday launched Edraak, a not-for-profit platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Arabic, which experts said will significantly boost the employability of young Arabs and hone their skills.

Edraak, an initiative of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF), was developed based on edX technology, a leading global MOOC provider founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. 

The platform will offer Arab learners access to courses taught at universities such as Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley, amongst others, at no cost, with the potential to earn certificates of mastery for certain courses. 

In addition, Edraak will develop its own courses in Arabic taught by leading Arab faculty members and well-known professionals in a variety of fields, offering original Arabic content, according to the QRF.

Starting June, Edraak will begin by providing a number of courses, while a new set of courses will be offered towards the end of August. 

Users can register through the website www.edraak.org. 

The 10 courses already available on the portal include “Introduction to Computer Science” and “Circuits and Electronics” provided by MIT, as well as “Winning Job Search Strategies”, “CV and Cover Letter Writing” and “Personal Branding” courses provided by Bayt.com. 

During the launch, Queen Rania highlighted some of the challenges faced by the Arab world from poor quality of education and graduates’ inability to meet the demands of the job market, to the limited number of global scientific publications released and the scarcity of exports in advanced technology as well as the skill gap in the region.

“The world around us is speeding towards a future where ideas, knowledge and skills are the founding blocks of prosperity, while we drift at the bottom of global rankings in terms of knowledge, and in terms of how and what we produce,” the Queen said at the launch ceremony.

“Transformative shifts usually happen when need and opportunity meet. We desperately need quality education, and online learning is our opportunity,” she added.

The Queen noted that the Arab world has a chance to acquire the capabilities and skills needed to catch up and realise transformative leaps.

“We launched Edraak as a realisation of what we have already missed and as a way to catch up to a future befitting of us, of our history and of the message that was sent to us, urging us to ‘Read’.”  

There are millions of portals rich with knowledge, and millions of brains are pouring the products of their research and experiences online from which the world can benefit.”Today, knowledge is available for those who seek it, and education is there for those who want it,” she added. 

“Edraak will broadcast the best in the Arab world and it will translate the best internationally,” the Queen pointed out. 

“Although online learning is not a solution to all our problems, quality education that is open to everyone is an opportunity to increase our knowledge and raise the potential of the region,” she said. 

What was exclusively limited to “the few that knew” is now open to everybody who wants to know and read, Her Majesty added.

In her speech, Queen Rania voiced appreciation for all partners and stakeholders for their support, thanking Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, for his commitment to education and youth in the Arab world. She also thanked the Mikati Foundation for its support. 

edX CEO Anant Agarwal noted that the MOOC platform was launched two years ago with the hope “that our mission and work would help drive educational opportunities worldwide”.

“With our partner, the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development, we have made this dream a reality, and today we realise our shared vision to increase access to education for millions of Arabic-speaking students around the globe with Edraak, which will bring the transformational power of education to the Arab world and intellectually hungry youth,” Agarwal added.  

QRF CEO Haifa Dia Al Attia said the foundation was pleased with the enthusiasm the initiative has been received with by young people and Arab academics, who are working at the best universities across the world. 

She added that in the past two weeks, more than 35,000 users have registered for Edraak courses.