ABU DHABI, 14th September, 2021 (WAM) — The International Festival Eshraqat is set to begin on 20th September, 2021, featuring over 40 knowledge-packed, educational and diverse events and activities, and a large number of international academics and experts (to participate virtually).The festival targets students, parents, teachers and university professors from five continents, including around ten thousand students from schools and universities in the UAE and a number of countries in the world, 70 public and private universities (local and international), 800 public and private schools in the UAE, and 100 international schools.Held under a slogan of Tolerance is Knowledge , the three-day festival kicks off with an opening ceremony attended by experts, academics and educators from different countries of the world, featuring an opening keynote by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, followed by a speech by Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, highlighting the practice of tolerance in the UAE’s schools After that, Dr. Ruby Bakshi Khurdi will be joining from Switzerland in a talk about learning human values through emotional intelligence. The opening ceremony will conclude with a speech by Professor Temple Grandin, who will participate from the USA to share her experience in integrating people of determination, especially autism patients, into society and its value and social impacts.The festival will also include Towards a Bright Future forum, which focuses on drawing a map for the festival participants to walk towards the future on the path of tolerance and coexistence based on knowledge, wherein Sam Branett, CEO of MBC International, will talk about the relationship between modern and traditional media, as well as tolerance and human values. Andrew Hammond, Senior Director of Learning and Community at Discovery Education, will also speak at the forum from UK.Al Hammadi commented, Eshraqat is an international platform highlighting the UAE’s experience in celebrating and promoting the tolerance in the UAE’s schools. The Minister of Education also affirmed that the word ‘tolerance’ represents a lofty value that has a great impact on the cohesion of the fabric of the UAE society, explaining that the UAE leadership’s adoption of tolerance as an approach contributed to creating an environment of intercultural coexistence and mutual respect.He added that the Ministry of Education was keen on integrating tolerance into the vocabulary of its curricula, to create a school community founded on tolerance, highlighting the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to launch Moral Education as curriculum subject in UAE schools, which promotes tolerance among students, and aims to reject differences and conflicts and promote positive and responsible citizenship.Al Hammadi said that Eshraqat Festival represents a wonderful knowledge platform to showcase important ideas related to education, knowledge and tolerance before students, teachers and parents.A world leading educator and lecturer, Dr. Khurdi will present many stories that she encountered during her long career.One of the world’s most influential experts in the fields of dealing with autism and studying animal behaviour, Professor Grandin will share the findings of her studies on the most acceptable methods of integrating people fo determination, especially autism patients, into society. Her participation is based on a fact in which she believes, that the world needs different minds , which aligns with the theme of the Eshraqat Festival, and will explore personal experience in thinking in pictures , which helped her solve problems that can be hard to deal with.Researcher, academic and lecturer with over 20 years of experience, Dr. Hammond will talk about the most important ways and methods, through which schools can transform the basic values related to tolerance, coexistence, cooperation, human fraternity, and others, into actual practices enacted by children, teachers, administrators and parents on a daily basis.A veteran in the field of traditional and modern media, Sam Brant will focus on the relationship between multimedia and tolerance and how to invest the capabilities of these media in promoting and spreading the values of tolerance and enriching the vital educational mechanisms for learning and self-development, especially among children and youth.