School principals, teachers invited to join QM’s collaborative platform

Qatar Museums (QM), under the leadership of its Chairperson HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, will chair the Academic Committee (AC) meetings for 2021, inviting teachers and school principals from across the country to attend virtually on September 29.

The platform is inclusive to private and public schools, with support from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), and Qatar University (QU). Aligned with the beginning of the academic year, this platform is designed to raise awareness of various learning tools and opportunities and resources that Qatar’s arts and culture sector has to offer and to share expertise and align the work of schools, QM, Doha Film Institute, and Reach Out to Asia. A build up from the Teachers Committee already established by QM, this further engages and enhances learning offerings to all members of the community.HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa, also the AC Chair, will deliver welcoming remarks. MoEHE undersecretary Dr Ibrahim al-Naimi, assistant undersecretary Fawziya al-Khater (educational affairs), and Omar al-Naama (private schools) will share their observations on the importance of aligning informal and formal education for the benefit of school programmes and with the aim of augmenting learning. QU president Dr Hassan Rashid al-Derham, a member of QM’s Board of Trustees, and College of Education dean Dr Ahmad al-Emadi are to attend.The programme will include a host of presentations supporting efforts to bring the two sectors closer together. The presenters: Dr Steffen Sommer (principal, Doha College), Nihad Ahmed (consultant, MoEHE), and QM officials Dr Jelena Trkulja (senior advisor, academic and cultural affairs, Chairperson’s Office), Sheikha Reem al-Thani (acting deputy CEO of exhibitions and marketing) and Sheikha Shaikha al-Thani (acting deputy CEO, digital experience and audience engagement), will cover topics on informal learning opportunities, curricular alignment, upcoming exhibitions, anti-Covid measures, the new QM website and other themes relevant to schools.In a statement, HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa said: “Qatar Museums launched the Academic Committee as a secondary step to the Teacher’s Committee that was established more than six years ago. The objective is to foster collaboration between schools, universities, museums, and other cultural institutions, and also to align school curricula with hands-on learning offered by culture and arts-related institutions. “Museums are neutral platforms, incubators for innovation and learning and we welcome this cross-pollination that will provide an invaluable platform for education professionals to maximise learning outcomes. By default, museums become external learning labs enabling teachers and faculty to teach all subjects across all different curriculums available in Qatar.”QM will work closely with school principals to gain a deeper insight into the latest trends, initiatives and curriculum content of primary, preparatory and secondary schools across Qatar. This will assist with developing enhanced custom-tailored educational offerings that align with school programmes. The alignment will also inform QM’s long-term exhibition planning to support and complement school curricula.Membership to AC will be on a rotating basis, with new members able to join annually, upon invitation. School principals who have excelled in devising and implementing visionary projects in their schools, as well as those who have engaged their schools in active and creative ways in the world of arts, culture and museums, will be invited to join the AC, which will meet six times a year. Once a year, the AC and the Teachers’ Council will convene simultaneously.Teachers and school principals can attend the inaugural AC session online on September 29 from 9.30am to 11.30am by clicking on this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83881028046QM said that those interested in becoming members of the Committee in the future can express their interest by writing to: jtrkulja@qm.org.qa