Qatar aims to build up an educational system which competes with the best models in the world, HE Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al- Hammadi, Minister of Education and Higher Education, said yesterday.
He was delivering the keynote address at the 20th Annual iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) conference and 17th Youth Summit, organised by Reach Out To Asia (Rota).
Speaking on the occasion, al- Hammadi said: “We endeavour to create an educational system which competes with the best in the world. The Supreme Education Council (SEC) has adopted an education and training strategy 2011-2016 within the frame of Qatar National Development Strategy.”
The inauguration of the first-ever iEARN event in the Gulf took place in the presence of a large number of dignitaries, including Kenjiro Monji, the ambassador of Japan to Qatar, iEARN’s executive board members and Rota executive director Essa al-Manaai.
Around 700 teachers, students and specialists in information technology from over 50 countries are participating in the conference, being held at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
Minister al-Hammadi said “The SEC has launched several programmes, including the e-learning programme, which provides technology services to all parties in the educational process (teachers, students and parents) as well as service of personal talks, that provides communication channels promoting continuous communication between students and teachers.”
He said that the SEC offered the students a free and safe e-mail access to be used in the educational process.
Calling upon educators and students to take advantage of the conference, al-Manaai said: “We are proud to host this landmark forum that aims to increase co-operation and co-ordination which are crucial imperatives if we are to advance the use of information and technology to empower the youth.”
Representing iEARN, Dr Dalia Khalil and Tony Casires, members of IEarn executive board, briefed the audience about the formation of the organisation as well as its past conferences. The opening session included a speech by Arhama al-Kaabi, director of staff development and care at RasGas, the golden sponsor of the conference.
The theme of this year’s conference is “ICT for Education: Reaching Out, Building Bridges”, and will focus on the use of technologies in education to reach out, learn and build a better world together. The programme has eight plenary sessions, two panel discussions, and more than 90 workshops and presentations.
The conference concludes on July 6.