The National Archives of the UAE started receiving hundreds of teachers participating in the 5th annual national forum for Arab and foreign teachers during the period 16-30/8/2018. The forum aims at enriching teachers' knowledge with information on the UAE history and heritage and enhancing their expertise with the values of the UAE society. As customary, the NA organizes this annual forum just before the beginning of the new academic year.

The forum, in which the NA collaborates with its strategic partners including Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi, Ministry of Education and Emirates National Schools, seeks to encourage the educational system in the UAE schools to instill the national identity, enhance the values of loyalty and belonging and to increase awareness of the history, culture, heritage and traditions of the UAE authentic society. The NA hosts Arab and foreign teachers from governmental and private schools, who were nominated by the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi, the Ministry of Education or by schools such as Emirates National Schools with its various branches, Al Dar Academy Group and ADNOC Schools.

The 5th teachers forum is distinguished by its accepting teachers who wish to participate without the need for a nomination by any institution. Registration will be open during the specified days of the forum. The increasing number of participants indicates that the forum program is attracting a large number of Arab and foreign teachers for the fifth year consecutively; it has proved its success throughout the last seasons. The Educational Programs Section at the NA seeks to disseminate the authentic values of the UAE through its project “A Promising Generation” which includes seven educational programs relating to educational curricula, history and the National Archives duties, promoting national identity, moral education and good citizenship values, and in order to accomplish and convey this purposeful national mission it utilizes several key channels.

The 5th teachers forum program, conducted over five inconsecutive days, includes a national lecture on “The UAE History and Culture” prompting foreign teachers to exercise positive influence during the educational process, to promote human values and mutually share experiences with the UAE citizens positively, avoiding any negativisms. All teachers should seek to adopt best educational practices as opposed to typical or standard methods in order to prepare for a future where the UAE aspires to be among the best countries of the world by 2021.

Furthermore, the forum program includes a tour of the NA premises starting with the Customer Happiness Hall where guests are informed about its role, as in receiving and assisting researchers in their research relating to the heritage and history of the UAE and the Gulf region through the NA holdings of historical documents and records, following which, they visited Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Hall, displaying samples of manuscripts, photographs, maps, and electronic albums of the leaders and prominent figures of the UAE in modern times. The hall provides its visitors with an account of the journey the Union has gone through until its establishment, of the formation of the first Cabinet and the selection of the Union flag. At Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed virtual reality Hall, participants watched a 3-D documentary film on the UAE past and present and the National Archives’ role in preserving the memory of the nation. They also visited the Emirates Library, specialized in the history and heritage of the UAE, where they inspected and learnt about its holdings of references and repository of information of both forms whether soft or hard copies.