Under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar celebrated World Teachers’ Day with an event organised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education at the Qatar National Convention Center.
The function was attended by HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud.
A number of ministers, undersecretaries and heads of diplomatic missions also attended the celebrations.
HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi honoured 100 senior teachers during the celebrations in appreciation of their efforts towards Qatar’s educational system.
HE al-Hammadi said the celebration of World Teachers’ Day is an indication of Qatar’s international commitments and obligations and embodies its Islamic values inherent in its tradition and culture by honouring education and educators and recognising their role in education, fulfilling their message of teaching generations and the positive impact they have on their surroundings and community.
The minister also reiterated the importance of the directives of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the speech addressed to the citizens and residents of Qatar on July 21, especially His Highness the Emir’s call for self-reliance and rejecting dependency.
HE al-Hammadi said the ministry will continue to attract Qatari expertise and human resources in the teaching profession by developing the recruitment system and evaluating teachers according to set standards in order to strengthen the national capabilities in the field of teaching and education.
HE al-Hammadi expressed his gratitude to HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister for his keenness to support this important occasion. This shows his appreciation of the teachers’ role in the path of development and future building, he said.
HE al-Hammadi extended his congratulations to the teachers at Qatari schools, valued their dedication to work and their role in developing Qatar’s human and knowledge capital, leading Qatar’s society towards knowledge, shaping the values and attitudes of students and drafting their national identity.
He added that teachers were the main partners in Qatar’s development and through them the country’s main objectives can be met with their efforts in establishing generations Qatar anticipates for its future.
Al-Hammadi stressed that despite the challenges of globalisation, the opportunities it offers, the development of communication and information, their implications for the digital era, and its impact on education systems, teachers remain the basis of the educational process.
Legislation and laws in support of teachers’ rights, including a distinctive pay for academic staff, are initiatives taken by Qatar as a national priority.
Teachers are provided with secure and stable educational environment that defines their job duties and hours and the number of students per semester.
It is an attractive environment to teachers from 56 countries, which reflects the richness of Qatar’s educational system and its compliance with Unesco’s theme, “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers.”
HE al-Hammadi pointed out that the training and educational development centre at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has implemented in the framework of its plan for the last academic year about 90 training programmes, through which more than 6,800 trainees have benefited. 
These include qualification programmes for the resettlement of leadership positions in schools, educational empowerment programmes for new teachers and career advancement programmes related to professional licences.
HE al-Hammadi said the Ministry of Education and Higher Education had welcomed 164 new Qatari male and female teachers who recently joined the profession as a result of a successful partnership with the “Ambition” programme implemented by the ministry in co-operation with the College of Education at Qatar University and College of Community in Qatar as well as the teacher recruitment programmes of Teach for Qatar and graduates of the Faculty of Education wishing to teach.
HE al-Hammadi noted that the ministry has Qatarised about 80% of senior and middle positions at government schools at the level of academic deputies, administrative deputies and co-ordinators of subjects to give Qatari personnel the opportunity to take leadership positions.
In a speech given on behalf of the honourees, Sarah Aman al-Abdulrahman called on recognised teachers to intensify work and put in more effort so as to achieve the goals and enhance contributions to human and society development.
Yousef Ali Darwish, general manager for communications at QNB Group, the strategic partner of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, hailed the ministry’s recognition of the teachers’ role in the education system.
Darwish said QNB supported the activities of the ministry in an embodiment of the role of the private sector in backing education systems.
During the ceremony, a documentary was screened to highlight the significant and vital role of teachers in raising generations.
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