Qatar is keen to attract more outstanding international schools to open branches in the country, HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi has said.
“We are determined to boost the quality of education imparted in Qatar,” he told a press conference yesterday, on the occasion of the upcoming new school year.
The ministry will also review the strategies of technical and vocational education based on the outcomes of the school curriculum in the country. 
“Eventually, additional specialised schools will be opened according to the needs and the external and internal variables,” he explained.
To cater to the increasing demand for school education in the country, 2,360 new seats have been introduced this year in independent schools, run by the government.
Dr al-Hammadi said there were 191 independent schools, with 100,319 students and 12,940 teachers for the upcoming 2016-2017 academic year. The total number of government kindergartens is 72, with 7,730 pupils and 1,750 teachers.
“The ministry is continuing its efforts to encourage Qatari investors in opening new private schools in the country and decrease the load on the currently operating schools,” he pointed out. 
Accordingly, 12 new private schools and kindergartens, including some outstanding international schools, have been granted licences to operate from this school year, providing 10,380 seats.
“There are a total of 85 kindergartens and 160 schools, offering 23 different curriculums and providing education to 172,247 students at various school stages.”
Dr al-Hammadi said that the ministry had worked to improve the quality of school tests through questions banks. Two new local independent primary schools were opened this year. The students of three other independent schools have been transferred to new school buildings. 
Seven new school buildings at various areas around the country have been assigned to operate as kindergartens. Besides, classes for secondary school education were introduced in three different preparatory schools and preparatory classes added to one primary school.
Among the priorities of the ministry this year is to develop a system at schools to enhance responsibility and accountability and raise awareness about them, the minister said. 
In addition, a system was put in place to evaluate the managers and licence owners of independent schools. The ministry is focused on developing students’ skills in practical fields, related to the requirements of the labour market while adopting an effective strategy to improve discipline in schools and limit any adverse conduct of students. Page 3


Strategy for early childhood education


The Ministry of Education and Higher Education is implementing a strategy for the development of early childhood education. Accordingly, Class III will be added to classes I and II at the early childhood education at 11 different government schools on an experimental basis this year. 
“We would also continue to expand the project of developing the linguistic and arithmetic skills of primary schools’ pupils to raise their performance from class I through class IV,” stressed Education Minister HE Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi
There is also a training plan to attract and train special education teachers, and staff. The ministry is supporting the new centres for children with disability such as Ru’a (Visions) Centre for evaluation, consultation and support and Al Hidyah kindergarten for students with special needs, the latter being the first facility of its kind. 
The minister also conveyed the best wishes of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani to all for a successful school year.