Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi at the conference.
Tunis: Qatar participated in the 26th session of the General Conference of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), which was held in Tunisia on Saturday.
Qatar’s delegation to the conference was headed by Minister of Education and Higher Education and Chairperson of Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science H E Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi.
The conference focused on a number of important and necessary topics. It discussed the enormous challenges faced by the educational systems in the Arab countries, especially in the phase of recovery from the effects of COVID-19 and the acceleration towards adopting modern technology to overcome learning difficulties in emergencies and crises.
In her speech at the opening session of the conference, Minister of Education and Higher Education addressed one of the important issues on its agenda, which is the Arab Plan for Education in Times of Emergency and Crisis.
It was the concern of most of the national educational institutions and international organisations working in the field of education during the past two years, in view of the challenges facing all sectors of life, foremost of which is the pandemic and its negative shadows on the education sector. It caused the closure of schools, deprived millions of children of education, especially in remote and poor areas that lack the means of modern technologies, or the ability to access the Internet, which contributed to reducing educational opportunities for children and increasing the number of marginalised people in the world.
The Minister expressed hope that the Arab Plan for Education in Times of Emergency and Crisis, adopted by ALECSO, would succeed in helping Arab countries mobilise resources and implement innovative solutions appropriate to local national contexts. And provide distance education for all, enhance the curriculum based on advanced technology, come up with equitable solutions that guarantee education for all, facilitate the return of students to schools. In addition to supporting cooperation and alliance between Arab countries and exchange expertise and experiences in light of ALECSO’s vision to protect the rights of the poor, deprived, socially marginalised, disabled and displaced children.
Al Nuaimi praised the efforts made by the organisation since its establishment in building the capacities of Arab citizens in the fields of education, culture, science and communication, and building bridges of communication between Arab culture and the cultures of many countries of the world. These are achieved through its programmes and projects in its fields of work, and its active cooperation with relevant international, Arab and regional organisations.
