DOHA: Qatar’s population committee has recommended that the study of adverse social impact of divorce be made part of secondary school curriculum in a bid to rein in the rising rate of marital discords in the country.
The panel has urged citizens, who like to live in spacious houses, to move to smaller homes and apartments and preferably stay outside Greater Doha limits where the density of population has been growing.
Focus must be put increasingly on raising awareness about the dangerous outcome of divorce on family and society before and after marriage of a Qatari, the panel said.
In a periodical report for 2012-13, the Permanent Population Committee (PPC) said that social perceptions about divorced woman must change and they should be actively aided to be assimilated in social mainstream.
Qatar, to recall, has one of the highest divorce rates in the region. The panel has also recommended that more and more crèches and nurseries be opened up to take care of small children so that the dependence of a family on housemaid is curtailed and the influx of foreign workers is reduced. “A law that is on the anvil to regulate domestic workers must see the light of day soon to help curb human trafficking and ease the recruitment procedures for household helpers,” said the PPC
About labour lodgings, the PPC has said that the government should look at feasible options to provide suitable accommodation to low-income foreign workers.
The report also took a critical look at the free utilities available to citizens and said an awareness drive should be launched to guide them about rationalising the consumptions of water and electricity to put an end to waste.
“These are very precious resources,” the report said, adding that latest technologies can be alternatively used to help reduce the waste. The education sector has been urged to set up institutes and training centres to prepare nationals for the local job market.
Talking of youth empowerment, the panel talked in its report of the need to have a law in place to support them economically, socially and on the cultural front.
