DOHA: Licences for 38 private schools and KGs have been issued this year, said Minister of Education and Higher Education and Supreme Education Council (SEC) secretary-General H E Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi.
He said an objective system has been developed to evaluate requests of private schools to raise fees and new licensing guidelines for private schools have been reviewed.
He was addressing the second consultative meeting involving academics and educationists on Wednesday, chaired by Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and SEC Chairman H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The Premier told the meeting: “We do not have a magic wand to make instant changes. We are gathering here to consult and talk with you to reach the best means of advancement of the educational process.
“We must cooperate to provide healthy educational environment which leads to the right educational outcomes.”
He said the meeting aimed to know problems facing the educational process and find solutions.
The Premier urged participants to present the reality of problems and find solutions.
Dr Al Hammadi said SEC is implementing 70 initiatives to address key challenges facing education.
He identified some challenges as long school hours, lack of incentives to attract and retain Qatari teachers, lack of effective control over private schools, e-Learning and comprehensive national examinations that “need to be tackled by implementing the initiatives presented earlier”.
The Minister said there are issues concerning school curriculum, teachers’ workload, motivating students academically, lack of accuracy of decisions and their overlapping by SEC and departments.
“Communicating with parties to the educational process and reviewing SEC meetings last year with private school owners, presidents and directors of universities, colleges and other stakeholders is a strategic objective,” said the Minister.
He praised stakeholders for successes in boosting education and noted the positive role played by Independent schools and higher educational institutions. He also revealed SEC’s strategy to take the educational process to the next level.
The Peninsula
