Muscat: A meeting held in Al-Mahwit governorate on Saturday discussed mechanisms for strengthening partnership between the education sector, the local branch of the Agricultural Cooperative Union, and the Central Emergency Development Intervention Unit.
According to Yemen News Agency, the meeting, attended by Ibrahim Al-Zain, head of the education sector in the governorate; Ibrahim Al-Ghuwaidi, head of the local branch of the Agricultural Cooperative Union; branch Secretary-General Fares Al-Wali; and Engineer Mukhtar Al-Turki, representative of the Central Emergency Development Intervention Unit in the governorate, reviewed ways to enhance cooperation between the education sector and cooperative societies and activate community initiatives serving schools and improving their services.
The participants stressed the importance of involving educational staff in awareness programs at schools to promote the importance of cooperative work and its role in community service. They also highlighted the initiatives and services cooperatives can provide in agriculture, maintenance, and the support and rehabilitation of school facilities.
Al-Zain emphasized the importance of strengthening integration between cooperative societies and the education sector to direct community initiatives toward supporting schools, meeting their needs, and improving the educational environment in a manner that helps students achieve academic success.
He stressed the need to activate schools' role in raising awareness of cooperative work and encouraging initiatives related to agriculture, afforestation, and environmental conservation, thereby promoting the values of cooperation, initiative, and community service among students.
For his part, Al-Turki highlighted the role of cooperative societies and intervention units in supporting the education sector by utilizing available resources to implement projects for restoring and maintaining school facilities and improving the school environment. He also pointed to the importance of agricultural initiatives, afforestation, and planting seedlings at schools.
He underscored the importance of joint coordination to identify intervention priorities and needs, ensuring that initiatives are directed toward the most pressing projects and that local resources and capabilities are utilized effectively in support of the educational process.
Al-Ghuwaidi affirmed the Union and its member cooperatives' readiness to strengthen cooperation with the education sector and contribute to initiatives and activities serving schools and the community, thereby reinforcing community partnerships and supporting local development efforts.
The meeting concluded with several recommendations, including developing a clear mechanism for cooperation and coordination between the education sector and cooperative societies; identifying intervention areas and priorities; enhancing the community's role in supporting education and improving the school environment; activating awareness programs, agricultural activities, and tree-planting initiatives in schools; and encouraging community initiatives.