The 17th batch of graduates from Al Maktoum College of Higher Education was honoured yesterday by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, at Zabeel Palace in Dubai.

The 130 female Emirati students were felicitated for completing a programme on multiculturalism and leadership skills in Dundee, Scotland.

"The students were great ambassadors of the UAE. They represented our leaders, their universities, parents and themselves well," said Mirza Al Sayegh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the college.

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and Juma Al Majid also attended the ceremony.

The main focus of the four-week programme was to bolster the students’ grasp of multiculturalism and their moral responsibilities, besides improving their skills in leadership, management and civilisational dialogue.

One of the graduates, Dalia Al Rayyes, 22, who graduated as an electrical engineer from the American University of Sharjah, said the trip helped her learn more about herself. "I learned about the positive and negative aspects of my personality, which I will now get to work on."

In addition to improving her skills and personality, Dalia said she was happy to get an opportunity to represent her country.

"The Western community also got an opportunity to ask us questions about our country and culture. I felt that I left a good impression and that I represented my country well."

The programme is designed to provide a combination of comprehensive course lectures, tutorials and debates to allow students to explore elements of leadership, diversity and a multicultural society in greater depth.

It was, however, not a case of all work and no play as Sarah Al Hashemi, an MBA graduate from Abu Dhabi University affirmed. Sarah said that, in addition to the skills she learned, she enjoyed her "crazy" shopping experience.

"People over there called us crazy shoppers. I came back with three extra luggage bags. The girls at the trip had their own cargo because all of them had extra luggage."

Mona Mohammad, 21, from Dubai Women’s College said she wanted to join the programme because she felt she lacked leadership skills. "I am proud to say that I now have good leadership skills. I went to learn more about leadership but did not expect that I will also learn about globalisation and religon."

One of Moza’s fears as a diabetic was that she would encounter health problems on the trip. Moza though recalls with good humour how hard she found to cope with the cold on a tour around Dundee, while the local residents seemed to go about their business without the slightest problem.

The students attended their courses at Oxford University in the UK and Glasgow University in Scotland.

The students who did the programme were drawn from seven UAE universities: United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi University, British University in Dubai, American University in Sharjah, Dubai Women’s College, College of Arabic and Islamic Studies. There were also four female employees from Dubai Courts who did the programme.

The total number of students visiting Dundee for programmes at the college is 700.