Queen Rania marks her birthday with a steadfast commitment to education

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania marks her birthday on Sunday, August, 31. 

This year, the Queen — an outspoken advocate of education, both in Jordan and around the world — launched Edraak, a not-for-profit platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Arabic.

Recognising the urgent need to expand access to high quality learning in the Arab world, the Queen Rania Foundation partnered with the Harvard-MIT consortium, edX, to create Edraak, according to a statement released by Her Majesty’s office. 

The platform offers Arab learners access to courses taught at prestigious universities such as Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley, amongst others, at no cost to the learner, with the potential to earn certificates of mastery for certain courses. 

Edraak also develops its own courses in Arabic, taught by leading Arab faculty members and well-known professionals in a variety of fields, offering original Arabic content. 

Since its launch in June, the platform has more than 92,000 registered users from around the Arab world, the statement said.

Edraak is the latest addition to a number of other educational initiatives Her Majesty has launched and championed over the past years, including Madrasati, the Queen Rania Teacher Academy, the Jordan Education Initiative and the Children’s Museum.

Her Majesty is also the founder of the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), established in 1995 as a non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the livelihoods of families and communities across Jordan.

JRF works through partnerships with the private sector to provide local projects that empower women and men, developing their knowledge and skills in handicraft production, entrepreneurship and small business management. 

Queen Rania is UNICEF’s Eminent Global Advocate for Children and Honorary Chair of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative. 

In 2012, Her Majesty was selected as a member of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s high-level panel, which was formed to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date for the expiry of the current set of Millennium Development Goals. 

Her Majesty is also a board member of both the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Foundation.

Links 

For more on Queen Rania’s humanitarian work, online presence and family life please visit:

Website: www.QueenRania.jo

YouTube:www.youtube.com/QueenRania

Twitter: www.twitter.com/QueenRania(@QueenRania)

Facebook:www.facebook.com/QueenRania

Instagram: www.instagram.com/QueenRania (QueenRania)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/QueenRania