Sitting on one of the world’s largest oil reserves, Qatar has been pursuing a strategy of leveraging its resources and managing its wealth prudently to accelerate growth in key areas of its economy. In the past few years, it has attracted global attention owing to its diversification strategies and targeted investments in infrastructure. It has made rapid strides in education to create a healthy talent pool, which can fuel its ambition of transforming the country into a sustainable knowledge economy.
Considering that education, the key enabler of the knowledge economy, can spur innovation as well as entrepreneurship, Qatar Vision 2030 clearly highlights the importance of the education sector. It states that the gulf state aims to build a modern world-class educational system that can provide students with an education that is first-rate, comparable to packages offered anywhere in the world. The system will provide citizens with excellent training and opportunities to develop their full potential, preparing them for success in the changing world with increasingly complex technical requirements.
Spearheading the country’s transition into a competitive knowledge-based society is the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which was established in 1995 to provide opportunities for learning, discovery and teaching, and to help build a society that will best complement the new economy.
There is a lot of excitement in the nation’s higher education sector. Qatar Foundation’s Education City campus has partnered with top global institutions such as Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown and Northwestern, among others, to accelerate know-how transfer to the country and become an international hub for higher education. The response to Qatar’s growing education sector has so far been truly overwhelming: students from all over the Middle East have come down to the country to access its world-class education programmes.
Research and innovation have always been integral to Qatar’s policy of economic diversification and the government has made significant investments to drive innovation on campus. Hamad Bin Khalifa University, a higher education member of Qatar Foundation, has started to contribute to the country’s higher education sector by initiating cutting-edge research and development.
At the centre of Qatar’s education initiatives is the World Innovation Summit for Education (Wise), the biggest education event in the world. Established by the Qatar Foundation in 2009, under the patronage of its chairperson, Shaikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al Misnad, Wise is an international platform seeking solutions to challenges that plague the global education sector. (See box for more information)
Beyond borders
Qatar’s education initiatives are, however, not confined within its own borders. Along with strengthening its own education system, Qatar is working towards securing access to quality education for children globally, especially in areas of crisis, conflict and insecurity.
Last year, Shaikha Mouza created the Education Above All foundation, a global initiative and the umbrella for a number of international programmes including Educate A Child, Al Fakhoora and Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (Peic), which addresses educational issues that concern vulnerable and marginalised people in developing countries.
“An estimated 57 million children have no access to quality primary education and approximately 28 million live in areas affected by conflict,” Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, Director, Educate A Child, tells GN Focus. “Inspired by the Millennium Development Goal of the United Nations to see every child has access to a full course of quality primary education by 2015, Educate A Child is working with partner organisations to support innovative programmes and methods of education for the hardest-to-reach children, especially those affected by poverty, conflict, natural disaster and cultural barriers.”
“We work with partners to remove the barriers that prevent children from realising their right to quality education. One of our long-term aims is to advocate for more funds for education so that we can target children who are excluded from education,” adds Dr Pigozzi.
At the recently concluded Wise conference in Doha, Shaikha Mouza also stressed the need for increased resources and more funding for education. “We need to tap new sources of funding, from philanthropists to governments,” she said.
“We need all sectors to understand the importance of education, not only as a human right but as an economic imperative. One additional year of schooling increases a child’s potential future earnings by up to 10 per cent. So investing in education is an investment in the greatest resources — human resources,” she added.
Al Fakhoora is a wonderful example of how Qatar has endeavoured to protect the right to education in some of the most difficult environments in the world. “Gaza’s future depends on education,” points out Farooq Burney, Director of Al Fakhoora. “From providing undergraduate and graduate scholarships to rebuilding war-damaged schools, our work gives young people in Gaza the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential,” Burney says.
Commenting on the challenges of providing education in Gaza, Burney says, “Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world with approximately 1.4 million people living under siege. The sporadic and systematic tightening of the noose around the city has stunted its development over the years and prevented its ability to recover or rebuild its infrastructure after numerous attacks. The blockade is the primary obstacle to working in Gaza, as it restricts all aspects of life for students and their families.”
Right to education
Peic, another initiative under the Education Above All foundation, is progressively working towards building a worldwide network of organisations and specialists concerned with protecting the right to education in times of insecurity and conflict.
The changemaker
The 2013 World Innovation Summit for Education (Wise) Prize, the biggest award in international education, was presented to the Columbian education reformer Vicky Colbert. Founder and Director of Fundacion Escuela Nueva, Colbert is the co-creator of the Escuela Nueva education model, widely known for its effectiveness in improving the quality and relevance of basic education in underprivileged schools across Colombia and beyond.
“It is a feeling of tremendous satisfaction that we have been able to massively challenge the conventional model of education and transform the teacher-centric education to child-centric learning not only in Columbia but in other countries,” Colbert tells GN Focus. With simple, concrete strategies, Escuela Nueva promotes a classroom environment where students actively learn, participate and collaborate, and strengthens the relationship between the school and the community.
“Enhancing access to education is a goal, but to keep children in school and teach the right thing is also a challenge. Currently, our focus is on improving the quality of education. Education is the responsibility of the society and that’s why it is critical to establish partnerships with governments, civic entities and private organisations.”
Commenting on promoting social equity through education, Colbert says, “Education is the best way to introduce social equity. It is the only instrument for poor and low-income people to climb the economic ladder and have a better journey navigating through life.”
To date, Escuela Nueva has been implemented throughout Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico, in the Caribbean, East Timor and Vietnam, reaching more than five million children around the globe.
