By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
The Supreme Education Council (SEC), besides being the regulator for schools, must also act as an educational facilitator, say many residents.
In the wake of uncertainty over new admissions at a number of expatriate schools, which the local authorities feel are “overcrowded,” the residents say the SEC must intervene promptly to end the confusion.
The SEC has asked schools to reduce the number of students in each class to manageable levels to maintain a healthy student-teacher ratio.
While some parents welcome the regulator’s timely intervention in critical matters, they also feel that the SEC needs to protect the interests of expatriate children.
“More people are expected to take up employment in Qatar and many of them are hoping to bring their families along, thinking that the country has enough schools to suit the educational requirements of their children,” said an engineer who is among the parents facing uncertainty over their children’s admission.
While seeking the intervention of the embassies of their countries, some parents feel what matters more than the number of schools is the availability of seats and “affordable” fees.
“An average expatriate doesn’t stand to gain much if most schools in his community do not provide education at rates affordable to him,” said a parent who has three children studying in an Indian school. “Leave alone dreaming about higher education at the local universities, we can’t even afford the fees charged by some of the community schools,” he added, insisting that the SEC should take a realistic position on the monthly tuition fees charged by the schools.
Another parent said the uncertainty has made admissions at even some of the “less preferred schools” a challenging process. “Some of the schools that were seemingly struggling to fill their seats a week ago are now coming up with new demands, citing ‘limited’ seats, and behaving more like builders, who often come here to sell their residential units,” he said.
Some of the parents believe that if the SEC makes an effective intervention, the expatriate schools which have been instructed to “downsize” can move their additional students to government school buildings that are reportedly lying unused.
“Otherwise, real estate agents will come into the picture and extract as much money as possible from schools looking for suitable space to accommodate their additional students,” said a community member.