64 Excellence in Schools
A cross the world, families are seeking schooling that feels more humane, more flexible and more attuned to the pace and pressures of young people today. The traditional classroom, with its fixed timetables and crowded corridors, does not suit every learner. For some, it can limit curiosity, independence and confidence. Minerva Virtual Academy, now building its presence in the UAE and wider Middle East, offers a different path. Its approach is grounded in personal choice, community care and the belief that learning should adapt to the learner, not the other way round. In this exclusive interview with Education UAE, we speak with Harry Allen, Vice Principal for the Middle East at Minerva Virtual Academy, about how a flexible, student-centred online school model is supporting learners to thrive academically, emotionally and socially. Education UAE: Harry, thank you for joining us. Could you start by telling our readers a little about your background? Harry: Thank you. I have worked in worldwide education since 2002 in Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East. I was also a student in an international school myself, so this world feels very familiar. I joined Minerva Virtual Academy a few months ago and I am the first Vice Principal for the Middle East as we set up operations here. “This is the first time I have seen a school model where learning is genuinely shaped around the learner.” Education UAE: You spent many years in well-known brick-and-mortar schools. What inspired you to move to an online school model? Harry: It came from understanding that school has not really changed much since the early part of the twentieth century. A lot of good teachers are able to support learners individually within a classroom, but it is still within the same structure: twenty-five students in one room inside a large building with thousands of others. This is the first time I have come across something that feels
Ash Mount School Founding Principal Abigail Fishbourne Interview with Education UAE
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