Category:Education issues

de:Kategorie:Schulwesen

Qatar has set goals and areas of focus to effectively transfer to knowledge economy as follow: 1.	A modern world-class educational model that meet Qatar: •	Offering excellent training programs as well as educational curricula •	Accessibility to lifelong learning programs •	Encourage analytical and critical thinking as well as creativity and innovation 2.	Aspire to be an active center in scientific research and intellectual activity 3.	To have a national Network of formal and non-formal education programs that equip Qatari children and youth with the skills and motivation •	Firm foundation in Qatari moral and ethical values, traditions and cultural heritage •	Empowerment of sense of belonging and citizenship. Involvement in wide cultural variety as well as sport activities urge educational institutions to grant scholarships to Qataris for specialties associated with the knowledge economy

4.	Promote high quality education and training opportunities: •	Raise the professional level of employees at various educational and training in situations and link between the curricula and labour •	Raise the efficiency of education and training institutions (buildings, organizations, administration) •	Expand IT adoption in various educational and training levels 5.	Generalization and organization of the academic advising in all educational institutions •	Create academic guidance units in various educational institutions to ensure the students are directed toward the required majors •	Circulate vocational guidance for youth and promote its programs •	Circulate career guidance to match between graduates’ competencies and job requirements in the public and private sectors.

6.	Prepare a specific agenda for the Qatari scientific research •	Future expansion of research centers and specialized research teams. •	Link research in situation expansion to economic reality changes at local, regional and international levels.

Challenges of Education sector in Human capital Division. Female Students tend to complete their education more than their male and more female graduates purse higher education than male. Qatari Male prefer to join workforce immediately after high school: males are aware that they need to pursue further education in order to get better careers, but they still choose to discontinue their education after high school. In addition, the males are aware that obtaining a job in a government institution will lead to further education and training because many jobs include formal course work at a technical college. Qatari employers also support post-secondary education for hard working employees. Therefore, this could be a major reason for the males discontinuing their education, thus leaving the universities with higher female enrolments. The low enrolments are also a result of the generous allowances for each child of male heads of households who are employed in the government. Because more than 80% of Qatari males work in the public sector (Qatar Statistics Authority, 2011), family allowances are in effect granted to most citizens. These allowances thus act as motivation for the males to discontinue their education because they are sure of these added benefits

Qatari student’s enrollment in limited majors: Most Qatari students prefer to study administration and economics courses and avoid science-based courses, which would greatly help to achieve QNV2030, but most are female Many non-Qataris have enrolled universities than Qatari. However, Qataris are more likely to remain in the country than go overseas to further their education than their male colleagues (Walker, 2014). This attitude reflects national customs and traditions. The cultural traditions and social attitudes continue to limit many females from taking advantage of the opportunities to study abroad. Many Qataris are enrolled in Science courses, followed by Administration and Economics courses. In addition, many are enrolled in community colleges. However, very few Qataris are enrolled in pharmacy courses because of the high availability of jobs for them in the public sector which offers high salaries and luxury work conditions granted to them in the other courses they study such as administration and economics. They thus have no need or advantages that drives them to study course such as pharmacy. In addition, public sector jobs provide them with benefits that is very much comparable and even higher such as healthcare and education

Enrollment of Qatari in Private sectors is relatively low: Many Qataris males avoid the private sector and prefer to work in the public sector. In addition, both genders prefer administrative and economic courses and jobs, while avoiding scientific jobs and courses. This is critical issue to overcomes as Qatar’s future should depends more and more on the use of research and science in education as well as in the job market to move to knowledge economy. Increasing globalization means that students must develop various skills necessary in order for the country to effectively compete in the global market. However, Qataris are often reluctant to work in the private sector, which usually has a wide range of job opportunities that could motivate them towards innovation and change.

Qatari enrollment in research; There is a need for collaboration between the private and public sector in order to create a research and innovation environment. However, the companies participating in the QSTP initiatives are mostly foreign ones, while Qatari startups and businesses are few because most Qataris prefer employment in the public sector instead of opening their own businesses or working in the private sector. Equal opportunities must be given to male and female: Many Qataris, strongly believe in their cultures and traditions, and are reluctant to take courses that defy gender roles or positions in society. A large percentage of Qataris are steeped in their cultures and traditions. They are unwilling to enroll in universities or colleges because they are comfortable with their professions in the public sector. The citizens are used to their gender-specific roles in all areas of life, including community sharing and social activities. The practice of segregation of the males and females thus reduces the chances of effective integrated involvement. HEI sponsorship list of majors are not aligned with knowledge economy requirements: HEI approves mostly courses in medicine, law, political science, business, and economics. However, it sometimes allows a broader range of majors that prioritize students’ academic interests instead of the country’s preference for the stated goals of specialized human capital development. Qatari Teachers quality is relatively weak and there is high dependency on expats: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has no control over independent schools. Teacher quality is an important factor in student achievement, and thus their professionalism needs to be improve so that they can in turn offer effective learning to their students. Bilingual system:  Most institutions still use Arabic as the instructional language even in mathematics and science. In addition, many teachers use Arabic and are unqualified for employment in the new school system that integrates international standards and instruction languages. Enhancement of ICT use in education: It is mostly the independent and private schools that offer comprehensive IT use in their learning and instruction. Vocational and training program: The country must increase the number of academic and vocational guidance programs in institutions in order to reach more students. Research funding: and familiarity to research: Inadequate funding for the proposed research projects aimed at addressing the country’s educational and research challenges. Inadequate funding for projects due to reluctance from collaborators and stakeholder. In addition, many Qataris are not yet familiar with research and science because they avoid these courses in their higher education. They prefer to take administration and economic courses in university rather than science courses.