The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, ECSSR, will host a symposium on education, extremism and terrorism at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The ECSSR has said that it is committed to keeping abreast of the various issues that concern the United Arab Emirates and supporting the efforts of decision makers in confronting the threats of extremism and terrorism, which continue to grow regionally and internationally. The symposium will shed light on the important role that education can play in countering these dangers, which have become a real threat to the entire world, by stemming their ideological sources. This, according to organisers, can be achieved by spreading moderate and enlightened ideas and by contributing towards building a solid and united internal front capable of withstanding the attempts of radical and terrorist groups to infiltrate the cohesive social fabric.

''In light of the dangerous developments of extremism and terrorism, security countermeasures alone are no longer sufficient to eradicate these atrocities. Hence, there should be a comprehensive strategy based on promoting the values of tolerance, centrism and moderation that includes cultural, social, religious, and developmental aspects, alongside the security measures. Evidently, education is one of the most important means of successfully implementing this strategy. Developing education that seeks to instil the values of openness, acceptance of others and tolerance in the hearts of young people, will obstruct environments that could be exploited by extremist and terrorist groups to disseminate their ideas," the ECSSR explained.

The symposium will tackle two themes. ‘The Importance of Education in Countering Extremism and Terrorism’ will examine the role of education in creating an open-minded generation capable of confronting the destructive ideas disseminated by radical terrorist groups, while ‘Developing Education Curricula to Instill Moderate Thought’ will highlight the importance of developing an educational curricula and continuously enhancing it with updated materials to help raise awareness in society. Consequently, these discussions and resultant recommendations will hopefully contribute to filling the gaps that the extremist and terrorist groups may try to exploit to gain access to the minds of the youth.