By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter
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The front view of the school in Messaimer |
The Cambridge International Curriculum spans both primary and secondary years.
From ages 5-14, the Cambridge International Curriculum focuses on the core subjects of English, maths and science.
Already between 150-160 students have been registered under the stream to study from year one up to the ordinary (O levels) and the waiting list is growing.
The accepted students are expected to sit for a Cambridge standard entry test based on their age to determine the appropriate class for them.
The school, which will initially run under the same management as the Pak Shamaa School, will have a separate administration.
However, around 12 classrooms, equipped with smartboards and special comfortable furnishing, as well as a new administration office have been dedicated to the new Cambridge stream, within the Pak Shamaa School building in Messaimer.
The new campus of the school provides spacious classrooms, playground and well-equipped science laboratories.
The Cambridge stream will have a mix of boys and girls from year one-five while classes from year six upwards will be separate for boys and girls.
“We are now ready to begin classes under the Cambridge system as soon as the school resumes on September 5 because the classrooms are ready apart from some finishing touches and we have been able to recruit a total of 10 teachers from England, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa,” Pak Shamaa School finance manager Razwan Shahid told Gulf Times yesterday.
The Western teachers will be assisted by some of the local teachers already employed by the school, he said.
According to Shahid, who is the son of Pak Shamaa School president and managing director M A Shahid, the new stream will provide quality and satisfactory education apart from raising the level of standard of education among expatriate schools in Qatar.
“Our aim is to provide a very good curriculum based purely on Cambridge curriculum that we be on par, if not above, our competitors so that parents can be rest assured that their children are getting value for their money,” Shahid maintained.
The tuition fees, books as well as bus charges will be very affordable and low compared to other expatriate schools here, he claimed.
Shahid added that the stream will also teach both Qatari history and Islamic Studies, which are made compulsory for all expatriate schools by the Supreme Education Council.
To the challenges of getting study materials for both subjects, he said: “We learnt that there is a whole new collection of study materials coming by 2014 and we are expecting new books that will be required by the students under the Cambridge stream by end of this month. The books can be purchased from the schools once they arrive.”
He mentioned that there will be a slight change in the school uniform in order to differentiate between the Cambridge stream and the Pak Shamaa School main stream students.
The uniforms are expected to be available in school after Eid, he said.
The Pak Shamaa School, which is the oldest expatriate school in Doha, was founded in 1958.
The school is recognised by Qatar’s Supreme Education Council and affiliated to the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad,Pakistan.
The school boasts of having well qualified and experienced teaching staff.
The students also take active part in co-curricular activities especially in sports including cricket, football and volleyball.