DOHA: Marking yet another milestone in Qatar's education sector, Sherborne, one of the premier British schools, opened its doors here yesterday. Sherborne Qatar, as the school will be known, officially came into being with the signing of a memorandum of understanding that made it a joint venture between Sherborne and the Supreme Education Council (SEC).
"Sherborne has always had an international vision, and supporting and contributing in Qatar's imaginative and progressive education system is a great opportunity," said Professor Richard Hodder-Williams, Chairman of Governors at Sherborne School, UK. "We are very excited about bringing the real essence, ethos and fundamental values of Sherborne to Qatar."
The school comes to Qatar as part of the Supreme Education Council's Outstanding Schools Initiative, which aims to meet the needs of Qatar's ever-growing population. The initiative is a part of Qatar's educational reform, Education for a New Era, through which a world-class education system is being built here. The result is a growing collection of exceptional schools from around the world establishing branches in Qatar to serve Qatari and expatriate students.
Sherborne, the third in the line of outstanding schools to open in Qatar, comes after DeBakey High School for Health Professions and the International School of London, which opened in the last academic year. The SEC will launch two to three private international schools in Qatar every year over the coming few years, including Shady Side Academy (USA), and the Dubai American Academy.
The school will welcome 340 primary students to its west Nasiriyah area facilities for the first day of school on September 27.
"The applications for student admission are currently being accepted and will be tested at the end of the first week of June," said Dr Colin Niven, Founding Principal, Sherborne. "The teacher recruitment is completed and we have a strong faculty of 22 teachers who are powerful, experienced and enthusiastic and well qualified, and many of whom have taught both in Britain and internationally," he said.
The school will in future start student and faculty exchange programmes between its Dorset and Doha campuses. Boarding facilities will also be introduced, if needed, to take in applicants from the other countries in the region.
© The Peninsula 2009
