Importance of Education

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The Qatar government realises the importance of a sound education in the primary and graduate levels and have thus created a network of a large number of schools and universities that can provide the choicest education to students in the region. The World Bank has also emphasised the need for an education system in the Arab world which gives young people the skills needed for the modern labour market. The State of Qatar has already taken important steps towards building an effective educational system by defining and adopting the best international practices to meet its national needs. The establishment of the Supreme Education Council (SEC) under the Emiri Decree No. 37 of November 2002 has laid the foundation for developing the education sector in the country.

The comprehensive educational policy is based on firm principles of preserving the nation’s Islamic heritage and identifying the discrete nature of the people, while continuing to enhance the development of school curricula and the educational system and benefiting from the achievements of the times and the latest technological innovations. The government also created an institution called the Qatar Foundation. The mission of this institute is – “Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a private, non-profit organization that serves the people of Qatar by supporting and operating programs in three core mission areas: education, science and research, and community development.”

One of the pillars of the Vision is Human Development, which it aims to achieve through increased education opportunities for its people. Qatar has established a number of educational institutions both at a school as well as post-secondary level, which will in turn augment the country’s labour force.

The man at the centre of many of Qatar’s education initiatives is Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family and a former university professor. There are many facilities that offer pre-school, primary and secondary education in Qatar. Eight international universities, predominantly from the US, set up state of the art bases in Qatar’s Education City campus. While most public schools have separate schools for boys and girls right from the primary level, private and international schools are largely co-educational. The Ministry of Education provides private schools with educational inspection, health service and free electricity and water.

The majority of schools have chosen English as their language of instruction, including many run by local or Arab management. This multi-billion dollar investment, a kind of academic irrigation project, was intended to provide a short-term, accelerated development of a regional research hub. Qatar is using its gas and oil income to stay ahead of the curve. Qatar University aims to provide education training and research opportunities in various fields of specialization needed to enhance the potential of the people and advance the welfare of the nation.