News
PowerSchool Launches Arab Version Of Its EdTech Platform
The cloud-based solution is now available to Middle Eastern users, helping schools with administrative, communication, and classroom workflows.
PowerSchool, a leading cloud-based education software provider, today announced the launch of newly translated and localized solutions for the UAE and wider Gulf Coast and Middle East region.
Native-Arabic speaking educators will now be able to accomplish critical administrative, communication and classroom workflows using newly-updated Arabic translations, as well as access a right-to-left oriented interface, Hijri calendar overlay, and more.
PowerSchool’s platform is able to log student records and create reports in their native language, while teachers can now create enhanced, personalized lessons for their students and digital forms for parents.
Finally, PowerSchool’s multi-language AI-powered assistant is also in development, and the company plans to launch the tool in the Middle East in the near future.
“With the UAE and other GCC countries prioritizing digital transformation in education, we are pleased to announce the availability of our educational and operational products in Arabic,” revealed Stewart Monk, Senior Vice President & General Manager, International at PowerSchool. “This also aligns with our commitment to provide mission-critical support to education leaders to provide personalized learning for students globally”.
Also Read: Top Free AI Chatbots Available In The Middle East
Along with the launch of a new Dubai office in 2023, PowerSchool seems highly invested in localized Arabic products. The latest announcement from the company strongly signals its commitment to the Middle East and GCC, and comes after the publication of its 2024 Education Focus Report, which takes a deep dive into the region’s education trends and developments.
“PowerSchool’s commitment to providing Arabic localization across its products reflects an understanding of their diverse user base and their commitment to inclusivity,” explained Mohammed Essam, PowerSchool Lead at ESOL Education. “This investment can lead to closer collaboration with educational institutions in the Middle East, fostering innovation and progress in the education sector. Overall, this is a promising direction that could benefit both PowerSchool and the educational community in the region”.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
RØDE’s New DS3 Studio Arm Is Built For Heavier Creator Setups
Dubai Turns AI On Its Own Civil Service To Measure Productivity
Former Rockstar Director Dismisses GTA 6 Leaks As “Nothing Burger”
Qatar Airways Flies The World’s First Starlink-Equipped 787-9
Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real
Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
Anghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
Qatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
Dubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade
-
News3 weeks agoInstagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
-
News3 weeks agoAnghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
-
News3 weeks agoQatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
-
News3 weeks agoDubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade