Education is always, in any society, a key issue as it is the lifeline of the sciences, knowledge and the foundation of any labour market.
When we take care of basic education from the beginning and plan carefully for it, we achieve the desired quality of education.
Accordingly, generation after generation will graduate from the finest universities around the world; giving us confidence about the prospects of our sons and daughters as far as the job market is concerned.
Qatar has an educational environment of an innovative nature. This innovative nature makes this educational environment exceptional and capable of achieving great successes, particularly if we all join hands to achieve that goal.
But we need to raise some important questions to focus minds on education as a social issue.
Do our schools really care about the Arabic language, the Quran and Islamic Shariah? Have we achieved our national vision for 2030 or has the vision been turned into mere slogans that we raise in schools and we have not yet found ways to implement it? Is coming back home from school after 3pm reason enough for our children’s failure to achieve success? Are school teachers and headmasters qualified to give our children quality education? To what extent is communication between parents and schools able to save our students from failure? Is educational planning going well? Are there loopholes in this planning that need to be bridged so that our children can achieve success? Do our children need to be engaged in scientific research? Finally, is the introduction of English to schools a failed curriculum project?
More focus on Arabic and the Holy Quran
The head of every household should be keen to teach his/her children the Arabic language and the Holy Quran. These two mandatory subjects are indispensable for the safety of the children as far as their future is concerned.
A Muslim society should be based on a solid foundation. Our youth will never be able to advance or push their country forward without this solid foundation. The Arabic language and the Holy Quran are integral parts of Qatar National Vision 2030.
If schools do not pay enough attention to these two vital subjects, parents should make up for this lack of attention by teaching their children this great language and the holy book. Parents should do this even if they sign up for tutorials. At the end, learning these two subjects will serve the best interests of the children.
Foreign schools do not care much about either Arabic or the Holy Quran. This raises questions about the usefulness of English, since math and science are being taught in Arabic rather than English. This decision has created a situation where there is a bilingual curriculum system, and this requires correction of the current situation. However, this does not mean we should not teach English; we should as it is vital for science and the labour market.
Family, school and students’ poor performance
As for relations between families, schools and poor students’ performance, there is no doubt that some mistakes are being committed in our schools. These mistakes include the lack of communication between school administrations and parents.
Some parents, for some reasons, do not monitor their children’s performance in school. A large number of dull students keep graduating from our schools without getting admitted by top universities as a result. Parents are then obliged to look for less qualified colleges, even if they have to pay more for the education of their children.
Coming back from school after 3pm
Our children spend almost half the day at school, waking up at 5am and coming back home at 3pm every day. This is making them feel tired and they complain about this situation. Add to this several hours for doing homework or assignments or to review what they have studied.
Some parents have suggested that the children return home from school at 1pm instead of 3pm. This suggestion should be taken into consideration. This way our children will have more time to do their homework. It will also contribute to their emotional stability.
Teachers, headmasters and underperformance
The educational and administrative processes in our schools contribute to realising our national vision. Careful selection of teachers and headmasters in our schools is the basis of excellence in the educational process as a whole.
Strict supervision of the performance of schools is indispensable for us to achieve our vision in education. Having strong selection criteria for teachers and administrators is a must and very important.
Strategic planning and scientific research
Plans must be drawn up carefully to serve the best interests of our educational policies. We need to encourage our children to be heavily involved in scientific research. Our ability to usher in a new generation of scientists will contribute to building the Qatar we dream of having tomorrow. It is worth mentioning that Qatar ranked fourth in quality of education at the international level in 2012.
Electronic education and school vouchers for all Qataris
Electronic education is the way ahead for our children in order to keep pace with the era of technology.
This type of education must be adopted and encouraged by institutions that give school vouchers to all Qatari families without exception.
Providing every child education is the duty of the state. Financially incapable families can be exempted from the tuition fees of their children.
School managers and specialists who decide school curricula are important links in the educational process. Some problems must be solved before it is too late. One of these problems is the constant change of educational leaders.
The e-bag initiative, which will initially be launched in ten independent schools in the country by the Supreme Education Council, has been a long time in coming, although Al Sharq newspaper had suggested it a long time ago.
