PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 EncyclopediaUntil 2002, the education system had been highly centralized, hierarchical, anduniform in its organization and operation. In November 2002, however, in an importantact, the Supreme Education Council was established by an Emiri decree to assist in thedevelopment and implementation of education reform. The Council is made up of threeinstitutes: 1) The Higher Education Institute, 2) The Evaluation Institute, and 3) TheEducation Institute, which oversees and provides support services to the newly foundedindependent schools (a type of charter school). The Education Institute is responsiblefor developing curriculum standards, providing professional development opportunitiesto teachers and principals, and monitoring the schools’ financial management throughperiodic reports and audits.Structure of the Education SystemEducation as it is known in Qatar today began with the opening of the Qatar ElementarySchool in 1950–51. Official curricula were introduced in 1952, and textbooks were importedfrom other Arab countries. In 1956, the first girls’ elementary school was opened.The system of education incorporates three stages: elementary (6 years), preparatory(3 years), and secondary (3 years). Education is compulsory up to the preparatory(intermediate) level, and is free for all Qataris all the way to the university. Almost 80%of Qataris under the age of 15 are enrolled in government schools.There are 223 public schools, 288 private Schools, 14 adult education schools, and5 special education schools employing a total of 16,680 school staff and serving 142,782students. 2 Table 1 shows the number of students, schools, and teachers within primary,preparatory, and secondary schools in the 2004–05 school year.Table 1School Figures for the 2004–05 School YearSchool StageNumber ofStudentsNumber ofSchoolsNumberof TeachersPrimary 70,469 203 6,282Preparatory 30,100 115 2,919Secondary 26,662 100 2,564SOURCE: Ministry of Education. (2006). Annual statistics report, 2004–2005.Doha: Author.The number of independent schools in Qatar increased sharply in the 3-year periodbetween the 2004–05 and 2006–07 school years. Table 2 presents the number of students,schools, and teachers within each stage in each of the 3 years.Qatar310