DOHA: Education authorities on Friday unveiled an extensive code of conduct for school teachers and educational administrators in the country but didn’t specify what happens if some in the teaching fraternity fail to follow the code.
The code was unveiled by the Minister of Education and Higher Education and the Supreme Education Council (SEC) at a function to mark the International Teachers’ Day.
Some 21 Qatari teachers who have been in the noble profession since the 1970s were honoured on the occasion, local Arabic daily Al Raya reported yesterday.
The code bars teachers and educational administrators from using their position to make undue financial gains and covers aspects regarding how their relations with students and their parents, school staff and society as a whole should be.
The code has 14 articles covering different aspects but carries no punitive clauses to deal with failure to follow the code.
A teacher or administrator must be a role model for students and society at large and must build a generation that believes in Allah and is proud of his Arab, Islamic and Qatari identity and culture, specifies the code.
He must help create an environment in school which helps students imbibe Islamic values and deepens his sense of national identity. A teacher must be honest and respectful in dealing with others and believe in team work.
It is not clear, though, if the code is applicable to the teachers of all schools in the country but Al Raya said it does cover the entire teaching fraternity in Qatar.
The code asks teachers and those in leadership positions in the field of education to be democratic and convince others in a democratic way of the importance of a decision they have taken.
They must have professional integration, act with transparency and not misuse their powers, says the code. They must work so as to help develop the profession of education.
The Peninsula
