The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has announced the launch of an initiative that provides the private sector with promising investment opportunities in the education sector.

As part of the scheme, the ministry plans to allocate land to build and operate private schools that would provide distinguished educational services according to the approved strategies and standards and the best international practices.
The initiative is launched by the MEC Technical Committee to Stimulate Private Sector Participation in Economic Development Projects in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and all other entities concerned in the country. In co-ordination with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, the committee has worked to allocate 10 plots of land, each measuring 15,000sqm, at Al Wakrah, Al Khor and Al Rayyan for this purpose.
Investors from the private sector would be invited to develop and operate a number of educational facilities according to the approved standards.
The MEC has published a questionnaire on the issue on its website, urging those interested to answer it. The questionnaire is aimed at making potential investors and others to submit clear views on the mechanism of land allocation to develop and operate educational institutes by the private sector. Encouraging people to participate, the ministry said the views of the respondents would be highly instrumental in adopting the final layout of the project.
Those who want to respond to the questionnaire should provide their contact information and a summary of their experience in the field of education. They should submit their views on the implementation mechanism of such projects through answering a number of qualitative questions regarding the strategies for implementing the project.
Through this exercise, the committee wants to identify the inclination of investors regarding the type of educational facilities they want to build, the targeted student category, the time required for the accomplishment of the project and what support should be provided to the developers to successfully build and operate the facility.
Other issues addressed by the questionnaire include the cost of building and operating such private schools, an economic feasibility study for these projects and the proposed mechanism for marketing the educational services.
Some of the questions are related to the integration of the new services with those currently offered by both the public and private sectors in the country.
The participants would also answer questions on the proposed curriculum and educational programmes, and how to get Qatar National School Accreditation, in addition to specifying the student capacity of the proposed institute, the targeted social categories, the adopted educational system, extracurricular/co-curricular activities and the proposed fees for each stage and class.
After evaluating the response to the questionnaire, the committee hopes to move on to the next phases, such as issuing the project licences and tender. The ultimate aim of publishing the questionnaire is to study the market situation in this area based on the vision of the private sector .
Both the MEC and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education have urged private sector investors and others interested in participating in the initiative to submit their entries within one month from October 15.
Details can be obtained by visiting the MEC website at www.mec.gov.qa