Doha: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education signed yesterday a partnership agreement with Australia’s Chisholm Institute on the cross-border education aiming to implement accredited technical programmes in Qatar’s specialised public schools.
The agreement was signed via video conference by Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs Fawzia Abdulaziz Al Khater, and CEO of Chisholm Institute Stephen Varty, in the presence of a number of officials and consultants in the ministry.
Commenting on the occasion, Al Khater underlined that technical education has become an essential component of the public education system in Qatar, and one of the foundations on which comprehensive development plans can be based to build an advanced and productive Qatari society capable of achieving the national priorities of education and training included in Qatar National Vision 2030.
“In view of the technical education’s contribution to refining skills and meeting the needs of the labour market in an ever-changing world, and in light of the rapid growth of the Qatar’s economy and the industrial sector, work has been done on the horizontal expansion of technical education in the country. There are currently two technical schools within the public education schools in the State of Qatar, one each for boys and girls.
This type of school seeks to achieve the vision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education that technical education be a profession-oriented education according to new educational paths that serve the knowledge economy,” Al Khater added.
She referred to the opening of the Qatar Technical School for Girls in the academic year 2020-21, marking a pioneering addition to the technical and vocational education system in the country, with the aim to enhance the role of Qatari women in the development process, provide training and qualification for Qatari women technical cadres, in addition to increasing the rate of Qatarisation for women’s technical jobs in all sectors.
Al Khater explained that signing the agreement with Chisholm Institute aims to implement specialised technical programmes that adopt the requirements of the Australian Technical And Further Education (TAFE) programme in Qatar technical schools, noting that the programme provides a comprehensive and balanced evaluation system that allows students to study programmes covering knowledge, science and technical skills within a flexible methodological structure that suits their capabilities. Al Khater said the Ministry aims, through this partnership, to keep pace with the development in this field at the world level to provide a specialised cadre for the economic mobility needed for the country and the international economic variables.
The agreement focuses on practical training for students.
The training will take place in workshops that simulate work systems in different industries, using machines, systems and training equipment similar to what is currently used in work environments in the country.
The Chisholm Institute will provide schools with technical study materials, including relevant training packages, Training and Assessment Strategy (TAS) documents, teacher guides, student guides, unit plans and assessment tools required to enable schools to deliver technical courses to students.
