Thousands of educational professionals help make GESS 2011 the biggest event yet

The fourth edition of Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS) and the Global Education Forum (GEF) ended on a high note this month, with nearly 5,000 education professionals and senior decision makers within the sector pouring through the doors, eager to hear from international experts and find out about the latest solutions for their teaching needs.

The three-day event, which is organised by F&E in conjunction with the UAE Ministry of Education, opened on Tuesday 3^rd May and was inaugurated by His Excellency Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami, the UAE Minister of Education.

In addition to representatives from Education Ministries from across the GCC, GESS 2011 was also visited by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, under whose patronage the event has flourished over the last four years.

This year’s exhibition attracted more than 250 exhibitors from 30 countries around the globe, resulting in an extensive and engaging showcase covering the whole spectrum of education solutions, and reaffirming GESS as the region’s premier education show.

Matt Thompson, Project Director, F&E commented: “GESS 2011 has once again exceeded our expectations when it comes to attracting not only high calibre educationalists, exhibitors and speakers, but also drawing in professionals from across the GCC. As a result, the show provided teaching professionals with a truly unique opportunity to share ideas on the issues that matter most to them, to glean practical information from the experts on how to maximise the learning environment in their own establishments and to find teaching solutions to address the everyday challenges they face in the classroom. Feedback across the board has been incredibly positive with most exhibitors and visitors expressing a keen interest to return next year, further cementing GESS’ position as the region’s leading education event.”

Key components of the event included: the sold-out Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes which, in conjunction with Dragonfly Training, offered practical and inspiration strategies to improve the quality of learning and received fantastic reviews from those that attended, providing a great platform to build on for GESS 2012; a popular feature on Hand-Held Learning by Semperior which focused on practical strategies for mobile learning, with pupils from GEMS Education eagerly showing audiences how hand-held devices can be effectively utilised for purpose of learning. The GESS Interactive Classroom also proved a popular attraction for teachers, giving them the chance to improve their knowledge and handling of technology in a realistic classroom environment.

Azza El Shinnawy, Education Lead, Microsoft Gulf, said: “GESS has once again proved to be the perfect platform for us to demonstrate how Microsoft enables teachers to give the best experience possible to their students. We had a good show and are very happy with the results of our participation. Senior decision makers from various schools were very impressed with our Multipoint Server solution which was launched at GESS 2011. We hope GESS continues to grow in the years to come.”

Meanwhile GEF – the only conference for education professionals in the UAE and GCC – drew huge numbers of highly-regarded experts from across the field of educationincluding Dr Khalifa Ali Alsuwaidi, the Assistant Professor at Department of Curriculum and Instruction, United Arab Emirates University; Dr Eesa Mohammed Bastaki, currently the CEO of the ICT Fund; and Dr Tarek Shawki, Director of the Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States since 2008, amongst others.

“2011 has been yet another fantastic year for GEF. We were delighted with the extremely high calibre research papers and speakers that were presented throughout the Forum, making for a truly valuable educational experience and further reaffirming the show’s position as the major education event in the region,” said Dr. Abdalla AlAmiri, Advisor to the Minister of Education and General Chair of the Forum.

After its most successful year to date, F&E is already working with the UAE Ministry of Education to ensure GESS and GEF 2012 is bigger and better than ever.

Matt Thompson, Project Director, F&E, added: “Work is well under way on next year's event and we are very excited to be moving to a new home at Dubai World Trade Centre, bringing GESS right to the heart of Dubai, which will allow GESS to grow further as it moves onto the next stage of its development. With a number of exhibitors already signed up to take part again, the signs are already there for a successful GESS and GEF 2012, as we continueto attract leading global and regional exhibitors and address the matters that really matter most in the classroom.”

GESS and GEF return on 28^th February – 1^st March 2012, when it will move to the new location of Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE.