Teacher Stories

Teacher Stories | Al Qasimi Foundation | Award ceremony | Capacity development | scholarship | Grant

teacher stories

  • Omneya Ahmed

    Omneya Ahmed

    Teacher Scholarship Recipient
    Biology Teacher, Ras Al Khaimah Academy

    Omneya grew up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but has lived in a variety of places. She earned her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Alexandria University and has experience teaching in a private school in the United States. After teaching abroad, Omneya returned to the UAE and was a 2014 Teacher Scholarship recipient. 

    Currently, she teaches biology at Ras Al Khaimah Academy and is completing her post-graduate certificate in Education from Sunderland University in England. For this program, Omneya’s action research focused on improving scientific literacy among years 10 and 11 students.

    Convinced that teaching is a privilege because educators are able to spend time with and shape the future generation, Omneya strives to equip her students in terms of both academics and ethics. Her goal is to help students broaden their horizons so that they can apply their studies in practical contexts. In the future, Omneya hopes to pursue a master’s degree in education or science. 

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  • Khaled Al Sabah

    Teacher Scholarship Recipient
    English Language Coordinator, Al Munai School for Boys 

    Khaled was awarded a Teacher Scholarship to pursue his master’s in education at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah. He has been a teacher for over 20 years and undertook his graduate degree to embody the importance of education to his students and children and to demonstrate that one is never too old to learn. 

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  • Sumaya Issa Saif Al Shehhi

    Ras Al Khaimah Teacher Exchange Participant and Leader
    English Language Teacher, Qubaa Preparatory School for Girls

    Sumaya has been an English language teacher for several years in Ras Al Khaimah schools. She is originally from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and grew up in Ras Al Khaimah. Sumaya holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UAE University. In addition, Sumaya has earned numerous qualifications and has taken several training courses. These include a training program in Scotland through the Al Maktoum Institute Summer School during 2005 and a course at Cambridge University in 2009 on Planning and Monitoring Training. 

    In addition, Sumaya has cooperated with the Higher Colleges of Technology and supported its bachelor's of education students during their teaching practice modules in 2010-2012. Sumaya currently teaches girls in grades six and nine at Qubaa Preparatory School for Girls. Sumaya was part of both Ras Al Khaimah Teacher Exchange Programs—to Switzerland as a participant and to Malaysia as a leader—and is currently pursuing her master's degree in education at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah. 

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  • Jane Paille Ndungu

    Jane Paille Ndungu

    Teacher Scholarship Recipient Year 3 Teacher, Ras Al Khaimah Academy

    Jane was awarded a Teacher Scholarship to pursue her master’s in education at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah. With over 15 years of teaching experience in both the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, Jane undertook her studies hoping to update her teaching practices and adapt relevant philosophies to create more effective learning environments for her students.

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  • Muhammad Ata Khader

    Instructor, Creativity in the Classroom

    Muhummad is a biology teacher at Ras Al Khaimah Secondary School for Boys, where he has been working for the last six years while developing his interest in instructional technology and science education. He holds a MSc in biology from the Hashemite University in Jordan and worked as a university teaching assistant and then as a biology teacher for the Ministry of Education in Jordan before moving to the UAE.

    Muhammad grew up in a learning environment. His mother ran a vocational and domestic education center for girls, while his father was the principal of one of the largest government secondary schools in Zarqa, Jordan’s second largest city. Inspired by conversations and stories from his father, Muhammad began developing his ideas about education early on and is a firm believer in continuous, life-long learning based on active participation and collaboration between students, their colleagues, and their teachers.

    Muhammad is an alumnus of the first Al Qasimi Foundation 21st Century Teaching course and subsequently became the teaching assistant and then workshop instructor for the course. Having trained his replacement, he is now moving on to become the workshop instructor on the Teaching Methods for Excellence course. His advice to new participants is to learn as much from the workshop instructor and fellow participants as possible, to apply it in the classroom to find out what works best in that situation, and then to share it with colleagues. 

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