DOHA: The Supreme Education Council (SEC) has granted initial approval to 75 new private schools and kindergartens, which entails a 31 percent increase, Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi said.
“We are witnessing a lot of interest from existing school operators and new investors, with numerous requests to open new private schools and kindergartens,” the minister was quoted as saying by the Oxford Business Group (OBG) in its just-released The Report Qatar 2015.
Asked how is the SEC facilitating investment for local and international private education in the state, the minister said, “We believe that investment in education is very rewarding, whether in private schools or private colleges and universities… As for investors, we allow them to have full ownership over private schools, helping them get an additional plot of land and a loan with reduced interest rates from the Qatar Development Bank. Internationally, we seek out private schools with outstanding educational records and invite them to operate in Qatar.”
He said the SEC had developed a new system for licencing and evaluating private schools, while implementing the government’s grants to private education through educational vouchers that allows Qatari students to choose from the diversified curricula offered at private schools.
Al Hammadi said the SEC is currently expanding infrastructure to respond to demographic changes and new urban developments, while continuing to reduce the number of students per classroom.
“We are building new schools to meet the growing need for public schools and to replace old buildings. In the 2014/15 academic year, we inaugurated 13 public schools and nine kindergartens. We aim to increase the number of public schools by more than 33 percent by 2017,” said the minister.
SEC operates with six focus areas: leadership and strategy, student success, organisational development, technical skills development of teachers and educators at public schools, improving communication with stakeholders and society, and developing our IT capabilities.
Qatar is now working on preparing a comprehensive policy for higher education, and establishing a national qualifications framework, an ambitious project that will map out the skills required in the coming decades, said the minister.
The National Centre for Educational Development is offering unique training opportunities to teachers and educators, helping them achieve their full potential.
“In order to give students the best opportunities, we are developing the national curriculum framework, coupled with the LitNum initiative, to increase literacy and numeracy skills at an early stage. In higher education, we have 23 colleges and universities, both public and private, and we hope to develop more to further expand the choice on offer to students. We also have a scholarship programme that sends Qatari students to renowned universities in 50 countries around the world,” said the minister.
The Peninsula
