The Hands-On Learning program (HOL UAE) provides a practical approach to re-engage at-risk boys by equipping them with critical life skills, so they grow confidence, engage, and achieve in school. By removing participants from traditional classrooms for one day each week and introducing them to an alternative, hands-on learning style, the program equips them with the behaviors, skills, and attitudes necessary to succeed and pursue meaningful careers. HOL UAE embodies best practices, as it tackles the root causes of Emirati boys’ disengagement in school. It engages local stakeholders to come together to address these challenges in a meaningful and cost-effective way. Participants are self-directed and encouraged to be inventive, conceiving of their own ways to construct significant projects that can benefit them, their schools, and their communities. Engaging in these projects outside of their usual classrooms enables participants to learn how much they are capable of doing and to acquire essential life skills such as cooperation, leadership, problem solving, resiliency, communication, and empathy.
Read more at: The Hands-on Learning Program: Re-engaging At-Risk Youth Beyond Vocational Education
