DOHA: Qatar University (QU) and the Supreme Education Council (SEC) yesterday launched an educator resource centre, as an initiative to meet the county's goals towards education reform.
Qatar National Center for Educator Development (NCED), a resource for the development of teaching personnel, will be managed by QU College of Education (CED) and operate in partnership with and under supervision of the SEC. This independent centre will have the authority, resources and responsibilities to work with the SEC, independent schools, and international partners to develop and implement a Qatar-based national comprehensive educator development programme.
"This center will provide a cadre of trained personnel and build scientific capacity in a number of different areas, it will be a quantum leap in the education reform process," said HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General, Supreme Education Council, addressing a press conference. "It will contribute to building a better future for education in Qatar based on creativity and innovation," he added.
Prof Sheikha Abdullah Al Misnad, President, QU said, "One of the key strategies underlying the Qatar school reform is to support local innovation by educators and administrators in personnel decisions, curriculum development and instructional practices."
She further explained that, the objective of the center is to increase Qatar's internal capacity to prepare highly-qualified Independent School educators. It will also help to conduct research and evaluation of the efficacy of educator development initiatives in terms of recruitment, development and retention of personnel and to provide such information to policymakers and school leaders. Initially the NCED will find data on how to develop this educator training programme. To identify the areas which Independent Schools' need professional development, thirty three schools were selected for an analysis study, which will be completed at the end of February.
To assure the quality and standard a Steering Committee (SC) will provide ongoing review of NCED's operations and outcomes. The committee will also guide on planning, operations, personnel and budgetary matters. Further a Joint Advisory Board (JAB) will insure the quality of the programs by providing input to the NCED's staff on planning and operational issues.
© The Peninsula 2011
