A Summary Of UKTI’s Recent Webinar On The Qatar Education Sector

Clyde & Co's Qatar office regularly takes part in webinars arranged and hosted by the UK Trade & Investment office based in Qatar; one such recent webinar focussed on Qatar's education sector. The development Qatar's workforce, which is estimated to be increasing by 10% per annum, is reflected in the high demand for school places. Some of the webinar content is considered below.

The Qatar economy had the world's highest gross domestic product per capita in 2013, being USD 109,000, and this is expected to rise in 2014. Qatar, a country with a land mass of half the size of Wales, United Kingdom, is headed by HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar's main source of wealth is oil and gas, but it is currently seeking to diversify its economy. The Qatar National Vision 2030 sets out the country's strategy and development priorities. A high level of importance is placed on education with the Prime Minister being appointed in 2013 to oversee education. Qatar's budget for the fiscal year 2014/15 is estimated to be USD 60 billion with USD 7.3 billion having been allocated to education. The successful bids for both the athletics championships in 2020 and the World Cup in 2022 has aided the pace of development.

The Supreme Education Council (SEC), established in 2002, oversees education policy, specifically including setting school fees. PriceWaterhousecoopers were retained by the SEC in 2013 to advise specifically on fees. The SEC is further sub-divided into the Institutes of Education, Evaluation and Higher Education. The priorities for the SEC remain PISA scores, literacy and numeracy, a focus on the quality of learning and teaching, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, English and Arabic languages, health living and Special Education Needs. The priorities for higher education in particular includes attracting international facilities and students, increasing the number of Qatari nationals and the development of Masters and PhD programmes. In addition Qatar Foundation has an interest in the development of education in Qatar. Qatar...