The paper, titled ‘Developing Career Guidance in the State of Qatar: A Stakeholder Engagement Approach’, is based on the findings of three research papers completed by QCDC in 2015.
In a statement, QCDC said the paper aims to document current career guidance practices in Qatar, identify opportunities and challenges, and offer recommendations for future improvement.
Based on empirical data, the paper indicates that career guidance in Qatar is in an early stage of development offered in a fragmented manner, and is yet to be integrated into existing education and labour market systems.
To alleviate the situation and effectively contribute to Qatar’s human capital development, QCDC stressed that a wide range of structural, institutional, socio-cultural and capacity building challenges need to be adequately recognised and strategically dealt with.
Apart from the presentation, QCDC officials also participated in a symposium on enhancing the co-operation between counselling and career guidance institutions.
QCDC noted that the conference, organised by the International Association of Educational and Vocational Guidance, aims to promote equity through guidance.
The event also aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the impact of educational and vocational guidance, and the importance of the support given by institutions, governments and the private sector to promote personal, professional and academic development.
“QCDC is keen on attending and participating in important international events that relate to professional development and career guidance,” QCDC director Abdullah al-Mansoori said.
“Conferences such as these provide a discussion platform that brings together career guidance experts, academics, professionals, consultants and policy makers to facilitate the exchange of expertise and research findings on relevant topics, which enhances our experience,” he pointed out.
He added that proper professional guidance results in the equitable distribution of tasks and functions corresponding to the skills and abilities of each person within a work environment.
QCDC marketing officer Abdulrahman al-Kaabi also presented an exhibition poster entitled, ‘Training School Counsellors to Assist in Building Qatar’s Knowledge Economy’ at the conference.
The poster focuses on the programmes offered by QCDC including the ‘Career Advisor Training Course’, the first specialised bilingual training course for career advisors in Qatar.
Another programme is the ‘Career Counsellors Training Workshop’, which was launched in collaboration with the Training and Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the US Embassy in Doha.
The programme is designed to train counsellors and equip them with the knowledge and skills that enable them to provide better career guidance to students.
QCDC said these two programmes attracted more than 135 participants who went through more than 5,400 hours of training.
QCDC director Abdulla al-Mansoori presents their working paper during a seminar held on the sidelines of the conference
Qatar Career Development Centre (QCDC) presented a 'working paper' and poster outlining its programmes and initiatives at an international conference in Madrid recently.
