Qatar records 'second highest growth' in student enrollment across GCC between 2016 and 2021: Alpen Capital

Qatar is estimated to have recorded the "second highest growth in student enrollment” across the GCC region, growing at 3.9% CAGR between 2016 and 2021, according to Alpen Capital.In its latest report on ‘GCC education industry’, Alpen Capital noted Qatar allocated 9% of the total budget towards education in 2023, marginally higher than in 2022."The Qatari government has consistently demonstrated its commitment to support education through its budget statements. The allocation of funds aligns with the nation's objective to enhance the education sector through the expansion and advancement of schools and educational institutions,” Alpen Capital noted.As part of the Qatar Public-Private Partnership Schools Development Programmes, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had announced plans in 2019 to establish 45 schools with a PPP model over a five-year period.The schools are planned to be built in six phases, with some eight schools to be set up by 2021 in the first phase, followed by six to eight schools in each of the following phases by 2022-23.Five of the eight new schools in the first phase started operating at the beginning of 2022-23 academic year. Each of these five schools will accommodate 786 students.The project is expected to use the design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer model and is estimated to cost approximately QR4bn, Alpen Capital said.The total number of enrolled students in K-12 and tertiary education across the country is estimated to have reached 378,297 in 2021. The country’s overall gross enrollment ratio (GER) is estimated to have increased from 62.5% in 2016 to 70.9% in 2021, primarily driven by a rise in enrolments across the primary, secondary, and tertiary segments.Primary and secondary segments cumulatively accounted for over 86.8% of the student enrollments in the K-12 education system and recorded a GER of 102.2% and 101.7%, respectively, in 2021. Enrollments at primary and secondary education segments increased at a CAGR of 3.2% and 5.7%, respectively, between 2016 and 2021.The tertiary segment is estimated to have expanded at a CAGR of 7.5% over the five-year period.The total number of K-12 enrollments is estimated to have grown at a CAGR of 3.6% over the five-year period, whereas the share of K-12 enrollments to total enrollments declined marginally from 90.9% in 2016 to 89.2% in 2021.Private schools in Qatar is estimated to account for 59.8% of the total K-12 enrollments as of 2021.Between 2016 and 2021, the K-12 private-school sector enrollment is estimated to have grown at a CAGR of 3.1% while public school sector enrollments expanded at a CAGR of 4.3%, Alpen Capital noted.