Media and Education Must Forge Unified Partnership to Strengthen Society, Says National Media Authority Chairman
Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed emphasises that investment in professional media and quality education forms the bedrock of societal progress, innovation and resilience against misinformation.
Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, Chairman of the National Media Authority, has underscored the profound interdependence between media excellence and educational achievement in cultivating an informed, intellectually resilient society capable of navigating transformative change.
Speaking at the Emirati Education Forum 2026, His Excellency articulated a compelling vision in which media and education function not in competition but in complementary harmony, each enriching the other’s capacity to develop discerning citizens. He characterised investment in these two domains as fundamentally an investment in society’s collective intelligence, its capacity for innovation, and its fortitude against the corrosive effects of misinformation.
The Chairman emphasised that sustainable development emerges from educated minds, professional media institutions, and communities that engage consciously and purposefully in the national journey of progress. The National Media Authority, he affirmed, remains committed to deepening its integration with educational institutions and channelling its capabilities toward nurturing knowledge, expanding learning horizons, and cultivating the essential competencies that tomorrow’s generations must possess.
This institutional collaboration, he explained, aligns seamlessly with the UAE’s enlightened vision of preparing generations that honour their heritage whilst remaining intellectually open to the world, equipped with the capabilities to compete globally and contribute meaningfully to shaping humanity’s future.
Sustainable partnerships, His Excellency elaborated, must yield media content that renders science accessible to students, ignites their intellectual curiosity, and forges vital connections between theoretical knowledge and practical application. Equally essential is the systematic cultivation of media literacy and the development of critical capacities in information verification, analytical reasoning, and discerning thought, thereby fortifying young minds against the perils of digital manipulation.
His Excellency grounded this vision in the wise guidance of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has affirmed that education constitutes the foundation of development and the animating spirit of progress, whilst national media stands as an indispensable partner in the UAE’s civilisational advancement. These concepts, he stressed, complement rather than compete, both serving the ultimate purpose of cultivating human potential.
Education, His Excellency observed, provides individuals with intellectual framework and moral compass, whilst media shapes the information landscape through which citizens navigate. The contemporary reality, wherein students increasingly inhabit digital environments for extended periods, necessitates genuine institutional partnership wherein education establishes modes of analytical thinking whilst media tests and expands those intellectual horizons.
The critical imperative, he asserted, is not which sector influences the other, but how both may collaborate to develop individuals possessed of independent thought and rigorous verification capacities. Education that nurtures questioning and analytical reasoning, rather than mere memorisation, equips students with intellectual defences against polarisation and misinformation.
This transformation requires responsible, professional communication from both sectors, enabling media to report educational achievements with objectivity, thereby strengthening public confidence, whilst educational institutions engage with transparent candour, fostering partnerships founded upon cooperation and mutual respect.
Looking toward the artificial intelligence era, His Excellency predicted that the boundary between classroom and screen shall progressively dissolve within a decade, with each media offering becoming an educational portal and every curriculum transmitted through contemporary language. As artificial intelligence assumes the capacity to answer expansive question sets, educational institutions must reorient their purpose from information delivery toward cultivation of understanding and wisdom. Students must develop essential competencies in algorithm comprehension and verification of artificial intelligence generated content.
This evolution necessitates a fundamental recalibration in educational measurement, shifting from assessment of memorised knowledge toward evaluation of analytical capacity, innovative capability, information verification aptitude, knowledge production and its conscientious application. The media sector, concurrently, must stimulate curiosity and intellectual rigour, render science accessible to society, celebrate Emirati talent and expertise, and connect knowledge meaningfully to national development imperatives.
Source: WAM