Seminar discusses challenges, future of technical education in Qatar

 

The University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) organised a seminar Tuesday titled 'A Brighter TVET Future for Qatar: Addressing Current Challenges'. The seminar shed light on the joint efforts undertaken by UDST, ministries and all partners from the private and public sectors to raise awareness about the importance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). HE Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh al-Naimi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and UDST’s board member, presented the National Educational Framework and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s TVET vision that identifies the need for more TVET institutions - both secondary and post-secondary. He said: “We have recently launched Qatar Technical Secondary School for Girls. It is the first technical and vocational school for girls. Qatar's Council of Ministers approved the adoption of the National Qualifications Framework presented by the ministry, as a mandatory reference tool to identify, classify and organise national academic and professional qualifications according to the level of learning and allow mobility between all paths of education and between education sectors and the labour market. TVET is at the core of this framework.”Dr Salem Al-Naemi, president of UDST, presented the efforts that the university is making to offer its students the best-applied TVET education in the most advanced and vibrant environment. He said: “UDST is offering more than 60 programmes and has more than 150 state-of-the-art labs and workshops, and more than 20 simulators. The university is building partnerships with industry giants to develop more than 600 work-ready graduates on an annual basis. The university’s Applied Research, Innovation and Economic Development office has conducted a Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)-awarded research project with the aim of strengthening Technical and Vocational learning, policy and practice. The office also embodies the Unesco-Unevoc Centre, dedicated to advancing technical and vocational education and training in Qatar.” On the sidelines of the seminar, Dr Al-Naemi spoke to the media and said: “We are working very closely with the Ministry of Labour and inviting other industries, we want to hear from them and tell them about what we are doing, with regard to the challenges and how we are thinking about solving them.” On encouraging entrepreneurship among students, he said “we have a system where we create opportunities for students to work with other industries. We have young thinkers whom we can show how to commercialise their ideas, to create future opportunities and be paid for them, or make their university benefit from them or even their nation.”For his part, Hamad Dalmouk, taskforce leader, Nationalisation Workforce Affairs in the Private Sector, Ministry of Labour, and members of the university’s faculty and management, said the ministry considers the technical and professional specialised national workforce of high importance. He added: “It is essential to secure the sustainability of such a workforce which is a key driver of the national economy. Technical and vocational education and training plays a major role in achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. Therefore it is necessary for public and private entities from all sectors to support this type of education, especially since TVET’s outcomes will be of direct benefit to them.” Dr Rachid Benlamri, vice-president, Academic Affairs at UDST, discussed the current challenges that TVET is facing and the bright future that can be achieved once these challenges are solved. During the panel discussion moderated by Dr Mothana al-Kubaisy, director of Institutional Excellence at UDST, attendees brought up challenges that TVET faces in Qatar. According to Unesco's two Global Education Monitoring reports (2016 and 2020), Qatar is among the lowest countries in enrolment in technical secondary schools with less than 1% of secondary school students enrolled in vocational schools. The sector is suffering from a low enrolment rate of students, especially at the secondary level, a lack of clarity of the value of TVET by students and parents, a lack of vocational and practical topics across the curriculums in primary and preparatory schools. If they exist, they are rarely enacted. Further, there is a low-standing image of some occupations that TVET serves, in addition to weak academic counselling services at schools. Subsequently, Dr Mothana al-Kubaisy summarised the key points and made recommendations for a brighter TVET future.