London, 13 May 2020 — The Trust’s main project, Al-Fanar Media, is collaborating with SPARK, a Dutch nongovernmental organization focused on fragile states, in organising an online conference on transitioning to online education and creating jobs during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Keynote speakers include Fadlo Khuri, president of AUB; Fadi Ghandour, founder of Aramex; and Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares. The core question the conference will ask is “How can we best support vulnerable but ambitious students and young entrepreneurs during and after this crisis?"
The Trust believes that it is important for Al-Fanar Media to be at the forefront of a discussion on these topics at a time when schools and universities around the world have shut their doors in an effort to halt the spread of Covid-19. On the bright side, many institutions have taken this crisis as the chance to enhance online education, and so our online conference will bring together universities, schools, online providers, students and others to share experiences on moving education online rapidly.
The online conference will take place over two sets of dates. The first on May 13 and 14 between 14:00 and 17:00 Arabic Standard Time (Beirut time), and the second on May 20 and 21 between 14:00 and 17:00 AST.
This is not the first time Al-Fanar Media and SPARK have collaborated. We previously organized two successful conferences on refugee education, in 2015 and 2016. We continue to count them as a trusted and valued partner.