Students of Stafford Sri Lankan School-Doha
To maintain and continuously upgrade quality standards in private schools, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has implemented strict rules for hiring teaching staff.
Though some schools faced some difficulties in finding teachers meeting set standards initially but private schools’ representatives in a meeting with The Peninsula said that the move will help improve the education quality in the country.
“There are very qualified and specialist teachers in the schools operating in Qatar because of the requirements of the Ministry regarding the qualification of teachers,” said Uzma Ansari from The Next Generation School.
For example, she said, a teacher with a educational degree like Bachelors in Islamic studies cannot be a class teacher or teach other subject beyond their specialization. “A teacher holding a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies is allowed only to teach Islamic studies even if they hold diploma in computer or Master’s degree in economics,” said Ansari.
She said that as per the Ministry’s rules and regulations, schools should hire specialist teachers of bachelor degree in education and take approval from the Ministry before recruitment. Sivapragasam Sivam from from Stafford Sri Lankan School-Doha said that there were some practical problems in hiring teachers. “For example, graduates from teachers’ training schools like Colleges of Education in Sri Lanka offer diploma programme in teachers’ education. It is three years course running in Sri Lnaka,” said Sivam.
He said that the graduates of this college are qualified teachers in Sri Lanka. “But we cannot recruit them here in Qatar because they are not holding a Bachelor’s degree according to the regulation of the Ministry,” he added. According to representatives of the schools, spouses on the sponsorship of their husbands can teach if they have Bachelor’s degrees in education after issuance of work percmit. permit.
