Virtual College and Arabian Child deliver innovative safeguarding training in Middle East

Virtual College is to work in partnership with Arabian Child to deliver innovative online child safeguarding training in the Middle East.

This exciting partnership will help support a new initiative in the United Arab Emirates, making child protection training mandatory for individuals who work with children. UAE’s new child protection law, Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights, applies to all children up to the age of 18 and will mean teachers will be on the front line in the crackdown on child abuse in all its forms.

Children’s rights in the UAE

Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights, also known as Wadeema’s Law, is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that contains both general and specific laws in regards to child welfare. It came about after a shocking case in which a young girl was tortured by her own father. This new legislation gives provision for state intervention where children are believed to be at imminent risk, which is one of the core functions of safeguarding, and also details severe punishments for those convicted. It’s been widely hailed as an important step for the country in terms of human rights.

Improving childhood education

Arabian Child is recognised as the pioneer in the early childhood education sector in the UAE, and aims to be a leader in the field across all of the GCC states. Since its inception, Arabian Child has been working to improve the quality of early childhood education by training and supporting early childhood professionals, policy makers and other professionals.

Virtual College is an expert in online training and won the prestigious ‘learning technologies supplier of the year’ 2016/17. The UK's number one provider of online safeguarding solutions, it first started developing online safeguarding learning resources in 2006 to provide a cost effective route to accelerate education and training around awareness of child abuse.

It has gone on to deliver safeguarding and child protection training to more than one million people and works closely with over 60 Local Safeguarding Children Boards in the UK as well as the statutory agencies responsible for child protection at the local level. Virtual College provides e-learning courses to individuals, charities, schools, hospitals, private businesses, the police and local government, all of which are key to safeguarding issues which are currently prominent within our society.

Virtual College has developed over 40 safeguarding and child protection courses that range from ‘Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect’ to ‘Children’s and Young People’s Development’. These safeguarding courses span a wide range of industries and job roles, and are designed to facilitate businesses and organisations delivering on their compliance obligations, as well as to initiate and maintain excellent safeguarding policy.

Developing child protection expertise

Mrs Samia Kazi, CEO of Arabian Child, commented: “We are pleased to be able to tap into the learning technology and child protection expertise Virtual College has developed over a long period.

“This innovative solution will help us deliver effective, economical training rapidly to a large group of learners.”

Arabian Child serves all countries in the Middle East - KSA, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait - supporting quality improvement of early childhood by integrating the international best practices and programs with the local culture and heritage.

Hannah Bridle, Director at Virtual College, commented: “There is real synergy in our partnership with Arabian Child and we look forward to using our complementary skills and experience to deliver effective online child safeguarding training in the UAE.”

Further information on the safeguarding courses that Virtual College provides can be found at the dedicated section here.

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