Qatar's Path to a Knowledge-Based Future
Qatar, rich in natural resources and one of the richest nations around the world, is aiming to develop a world leading, modern, world-class education system that constitutes the backbone of the Qatar National Vision 2030 for sustainable development. With an ambition to convert the carbon-based economy into a knowledge based economy, Qatar’s education system has been in transition for the last decade. The system infrastructure has been overhauled to support the transformation into a system based on creativity, innovation, and critical thinking.
Qatar’s new education system is designed with visionary guidelines provided by the Qatar National Vision 2030. The system of education in Qatar is governed by a structure of legislation and authorities that provide an environment for advancement and is rooted in the traditional values of the Arab peninsula.
Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) provides the stepping stone for the educational development throughout the country by providing a framework for success. MoEHE is working as a supervisory authority with the objective of raising the standard of education in the country by introducing radical reforms in the education sector.
To introduce a world-class higher education in the country, Education City under the auspicious and globally aspired Qatar Foundation brings the top graduation and post-graduation programs from around the world to the local populations. To increasingly enhance the intellectual capacity of the nation, a systematic framework has been fabricated to inculcate within its education system, a culture of invention, modernization, and openness to ideas.
The new model of education not only cultivates curricular excellence, but a renewed emphasis on extracurricular activities proves Qatar is hard at work in the development of a holistic system of education.
Currently, Qatar’s education system is in the process of bridging the gap between the highly demanding and advanced labor market and the local supply of talent by developing the technical skill set of the citizens in order to actively participate and lead the nation towards its ambitious goals of Qatar National vision 2030.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education Qatar, under the leadership of Her Excellency Lolwah bint Rashid bin Mohammed Al Khater, is the supervisory authority engaged in the development of national education vision, strategies and policies to achieve the vision and deliver services to the sector. The ministry is responsible to provide support and structure to the education sector in the country so that the set milestones can be achieved. It undertakes education sector related research and analysis to assess and monitor the education sector’s capability and sustainability. The ministry also coordinates with other sectors and government agencies as necessary and supports education related government authorities and foundations like Supreme Education Council and Qatar Foundation.
The Ministry of Education has been in an evolutionary phase with its role in the education sector. In the past, the Ministry was responsible for all education related issues on ad-hoc basis, including administrative support for all education institutes public or private, providing infrastructure, utilities and financial support, inspections, performance evaluation, providing legislative and regulatory control, health related policies and support for secondary schools, support in organizing extracurricular activities for schools.
Over time though, with a new long term vision to build skills capacity of the State of Qatar, the Ministry took over a role as a facilitator for the education sector, allowing for a more natural evolution of the education sector, reducing its workload while at the same time allowing the ministry to focus on its core function as the enabler to the development of the sector. In April 2009, the Ministry of Education was consolidated with the SEC with the integration of many of the administrative responsibilities and personnel. Although its roles and functions have now been taken over by the Supreme Education Council (SEC), the Ministry of Education and Higher Education remains one of the important contributors to the education sector nonetheless. It is with the support of the Ministry that SEC has been so successful in the development and modernization of Qatar’s education system.
Nurseries & Pre-Schools
Qatar boasts a diversified nurseries and pre-schools base with a range of varied choices for the parents to choose from. Some nurseries and pre-schools focused on a certain segment of expatriate populations. Some are based on a specific curriculum or school system. Some are certified by an international body. Some are international branches or franchises of foreign
based nurseries and pre-schools.
Parents of young ones, therefore, have a wide range of nurseries and pre-schools to choose from based on their specific needs and demands. Most of the expats focused schools offer nursery and pre-school to facilitate families who send their children to these community based schools. With a large South Asian population, expat schools like Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Nepalese curriculum schools mostly offer community compatible pre-schools.
In addition, many Middle Eastern and North African based community schools like Lebanese, Tunisian, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Moroccan schools offer pre-schools and day-care facilities. Many international schools based predominantly on the British or American curriculum system also offer preschool/kindergarten/playgroup levels.
The most common nurseries and pre-schools are the independently and privately run day-care canters which are dotted around the city on the roadsides. There are many of these nurseries and playgroups are often housed in a single house/ Villa with a small capacity. The advantage of these small scale nurseries is that with a limited capacity, individual attention and care for every child is possible.
The downside though is that since small scale operations that these nurseries have don’t require a lot of capital investment to start, it has given birth to a huge number of these day-care canters popping up everywhere, resulting is increased competition among them which leads to multiple problems of overcrowding, lack of adequate space and facilities, compromised quality of education and health and safety guidelines oversight.
Primary & Secondary Schools
Qatar has seen a revolution in its primary and secondary level school system since the inception of MoEHE The primary and secondary schools were governed by the Ministry of Education, which
is wholly responsible for all aspects of the schools functioning, from providing the finances to the hiring of the staff. All the public schools are under the Ministry’s supervision as well as all the private and embassy schools, which had to comply with the guidelines and policies set by the Ministry.
Today, there is a much more elaborate and comprehensive system of education for the schools in Qatar, with very clear strategies and defined goals. There have been numerous projects undertaken by the MoEHE, designed to achieve the milestones underlined by the “Education and Training Sector Strategy 2011 – 2016” which has been derived from the Qatar National Vision
2030. The development has been rapid and radical in the primary and secondary school systems in Qatar, both administratively and curriculum wise.
The public schools, which were governed exclusively by the State of Qatar, have been granted the status of independent schools with their own Board of Governors (BoG) and Board of Trustees (BoT). The immediate repercussion of this strategy is that each individual school has been made accountable to the general public and authorities alike. The accountability is based on
the defined performance goals for all schools. The BOGs and BOTs ensure the engagement of all stakeholders in the education sector.
To improve the standards of instruction in the schools across the country, Qatar Office for Registration, Licensing and Accreditation (QORLA), Department of Evaluations, SEC has introduced a teachers’ licensing system. The objective is to get all the teachers and school leaders of independent public schools to prove their competency through a series of tests and evaluations.
Private schools of various foreign curricula are also bound by charter to adhere to the policies for private schools, which include, apart from the teaching standards requirements, the health and safety standards, administrative standards, the governance system of the schools, student-teacher ratios, availability of extracurricular activities and facilities etc.
There is a wide range of private schools available to choose from in Qatar. Curricula available in different schools around Qatar include IGCSE, GCSE, GCE, AERO USA, National UK, CBSE India,
ABI Dutch, SABIS, Norwegian, Alberta Education Programs, FBISE, IB & AP, NCTB of Bangladesh and numerous others along with Qatar’s National curriculum offered at the local schools.
Universities
Universities present in the country reflect the rapid strides Qatar has taken over the past decade, enabling sustainable economic and social development for the future.
There was a time when the prospects of higher education in Qatar were very limited. College of education was established in 1973 with a total of 150 students, which led to the founding of
Qatar University (QU) in 1977 with the faculty of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Sharia Law & Islamic Studies, and Science. In the humble beginnings lay a foundation which
would produce pioneers of development indoctrinated with the immense importance to the role an educated and skilful population base can play in the development and growth of the young nation of Qatar.
The evolution of QU, in essence, captures the entire history of the State of Qatar. It has seen the days as a basic college transformed into a world-class institution with highly ambitious future plans to play its role in taking Qatar into the future. With over 8,000 current student body and alumni of over 30,000, QU is playing its role in achieving the educational goals of Qatar’s National Vision 2030. QU remains the only public university across the country.
Community College in Qatar (CCQ), opened in 2010, is a recent entrant in the higher-education segment with a vision of boosting the penetration of higher education in the local population.
With a wide array of programs and short courses to train students for the government, corporate, and business sectors, CCQ is rapidly expanding its student base, which has grown five
times in less than three years. As an investment in the human capital of the country, Education City was envisioned towards the end of the last millennium, to enrich the higher-education landscape in the country with prestigious international universities and colleges opening up their international campuses.
Encompassing an area over 12 square kilometres, the Education City houses international campuses of some of the best-known universities in the world, including Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, HEC Paris, Northwestern, Stenden, Texas A&M, Virginia Commonwealth, Weill Cornell Medical College, University College London, University of Calgary.
The tuition fee for many of these universities is on the higher side, although the citizens of Qatar get substantial financial backing from the government to pursue education in these
institutions. An alternative higher education option is the College of North Atlantic, a Canadian college offering post-secondary school, graduate level diplomas at a very competitive fee, thus making it a popular choice among the large expat community in Qatar.
Special Needs Schools
Special needs education has been an area which received exceptional attention and support since the inception of educational reforms in the country at the start of the 21st century.
Education and Training Sector Strategy 2011-2016 makes special mention for the educational facilities development for students with additional education support needs (AESN). The policy
paper emphasizes that need to integrate people with learning disabilities or special needs into the mainstream as contributing member of society.
As part of National Vision 2030, investments into facilities and infrastructure have been made to offer universal access to the entire population, including the people with special needs.
Additionally, students with AESN are offered special education with a view of fulfilling their learning potential and preparing them for employment, so that they can contribute toward the
attainment of the National Vision 2030 and beyond.
Awsaj Academy, previously known as The Learning Centre, is a Qatar Foundation backed initiative equipped to offer the best facilities and resources for students with AESN. Students are
prepared to tackle the real-life problems that they will face with a hands-on experienced based learning system where students get the opportunity to hone their skills for practical life. They are prepared to become responsible and contributing members to the society through confidence-building activities as part of their curriculum.
Awsaj Academy offers primary and secondary-level education to the students with special educational needs. Apart from Awsaj, there are several other educational centers which cater to
the special needs of AESN students, including Step By Step Centre for Special Needs, HOPE Qatar Center for Children with Special Needs, Doha International Centre for Special Needs,
Qatar Institute for Speech and Hearing, Qatar Institute for Speech and Hearing, Qatar Autism Centre, and Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs.
Qatar Education Statistics
- Pre-Schools
- Schools
- Colleges
- Universities
- Special Schools
- Training Centers
- Sports Academies
- Others
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