Schools blamed for admission uncertainty

 By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

“These schools have been admitting students without any restrictions. They should have maintained a reasonable students-teacher radio,” a long-time Doha resident said.

The Indian expatriate, whose children attend an Indian school, said some of the schools have openly demonstrated their greed by taking in new admissions even after knowing that their classrooms are overcrowded.

Inquiries have found that even schools which started less than a decade ago are having much more students than what they could accommodate.

Parents feel that in the event of the Supreme Education Council (SEC) toughening its position on the student numbers and new admissions, the school managements would be left with no other option but to move additional classes to new premises.

“Hiring new premises for running additional classes would mean more overheads, which no management would like to spend on,” a parent said, adding that even if additional classes are moved to new premises, parents anticipate that the managements would pass the burden on to them by hiking tuition fees.

With every hike in school fees only children of low income families suffer as majority of working parents get compensated by employers.

Inquiries made among a cross-section of parents found that out of the 17 or 18 expatriate schools, except for a few of Indian and Pakistani schools, all are generally considered by their community members as “expensive” even though many of them function from their own buildings.

Among the 11 Indian schools, which together account for more than 30,000 students, only three are perceived by and large as somewhat “economical” by the community members.

Even while calling for the SEC to step in wherever there is a violation of rules, expatriate parents rue the absence of a proper channel to communicate their grievances to education authorities.

“While deciding such issues as effecting hike in the monthly tuition fees in the expatriate schools, the SEC should convene meeting(s) with the parents and announcements to this effect could be made through English, Arabic and other language newspapers in the country. Such measures would address the grievances of low income parents,” said a parent, who complained that the school of his children was charging “special” fee, without citing any reasons.

Parents also said the SEC should make it mandatory for schools to secure permission before the managements go for any fundraising. There have been instances of some schools collecting one fee or the other without any proper clarification.

Nurseries likely to hike fees over rising costs

By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

In order to comply with a recent law on the functioning of nurseries in the country, the managements of such institutions have to provide several additional facilities in the coming days. This, they argue, will lead to rising costs.

Enquiries with some of the nurseries revealed that they have so far not received the official communication and have come to know of the new law only through the local media. Some of them, though, said they were already fulfilling most of the requirements stipulated in the new law.

While the nurseries are ready to meet the criteria, they feel they may have to raise the fees to cope with the extra expenses. Further, they say their business is affected by “illegal caretakers” who look after children in their houses in every corner of the city. Some of the small nurseries, especially those run by Asian expatriates, said they would face difficulties in running their premises with the “existing low monthly fees”.

For instance, an Indian nursery manager said the new law would place a heavy burden on small nurseries like the one she manages.

“We are charging very low fees and now have to deposit QR100,000 and provide some extra facilities that the new law demands. We are discussing the issue with our sponsor and will come up with a decision on the continuity of the nursery soon. Increasing our fees will affect low-income families but we will not be able to survive without hiking fees,” she explained.

Meanwhile, an official of Little Hands said the nursery meets almost all the guidelines mentioned in the new law.

“The only thing we need to add is the availability of a medical service, which will be done soon,” she explained, adding that there might be an increase in the tuition fee from September.

Visa cardholders get chance to experience 2014 FIFA World Cup

The promotion is part of Visa’s sponsorship of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, which is scheduled to kick off in June this year, is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year.

It will see 32 teams from around the globe competing for the most prestigious prize in the sport.

Brazil will become the centre of attention for the world and Visa has extended an opportunity to Qatar’s football fans to be part of the glamorous show.

The campaign, set to run until February 28, connects with football fans across Qatar by driving preference for and usage of Visa products.

It is also to promote Visa’s partnership with 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil by enhancing the purchasing experiences for cardholders.

Throughout the campaign, Visa cardholders will enter a raffle draw each time they make a purchase while they are abroad using their credit, prepaid, gift or debit Visa card.

At the end, four winners will get the opportunity to experience Brazil through an all-expenses paid trip, including airline tickets, meet and greet arrangements, transportation, hotel accommodation and group or final game tickets, not to mention their own prepaid Visa card covering their pocket money for the trip.

Isaac Thomas, general manager for Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain at Visa Incorporated, said that the campaign intends to leverage football fever in the country ahead of the World Cup.

Visa is one of six global FIFA partners with global rights in the “Financial Services” product category to all FIFA World Cup activities.

30% rise in tourist arrivals from Gulf countries seen

According to these agencies, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest number of tourists to Doha and there has also been a significant rise in tourist flow from Kuwait, the report states.

A number of Gulf tourists have praised Doha as a family tourism destination, one that is characterised by a combination of modernity and originality.

They add that the events and festivals organised annually in Qatar, especially the Spring Festival, are the biggest attractions for tourists, according to the report.

Tourists from GCC countries also feel that Qatar is known for its international status and cultural diversity and organises international, Arab and Gulf shows and festivals.

Souq Waqif, Katara, The Pearl-Qatar and Villaggio are at the forefront of tourism in the Gulf, they have said in the report.

Officials of the travel agencies say Doha, with its large malls, tourist spots, recreation centres and festivals, occupies a prime position in family tourism. A manager of a tourism firm has, meanwhile, urged the competent authorities to further attract tourists from the Gulf and around the world by organising festivals and lowering air fares and hotel tariff, the report adds.

 Airport equipped to ease entry, exit: director

Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed al-Mazrooe, director of the Airport Passports Department, has said the new Hamad International Airport is equipped with advanced systems that will ease the process of visitors’ entry, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has reported.

The airport will provide easy entry to travellers through electronic gates and feature advanced devices to facilitate entry and exit. According to Lt Col al-Mazrooe, gates at the new airport will have devices for various purposes, including fingerprint scanning and document reading, the report states.

The director further said the Doha airport witnesses a large number of arrivals (of people from different parts of the world) from 8.30am to 9.30am and their procedures were completed swiftly through 30 counters. There were more than 1,770 arrivals in batches and the procedures were completed in 35 seconds for each traveller, Lt Col al-Mazrooe has said in the report.

Job document fraud cases drop to 4%: SCH

Dr Jamal al-Khanji, director of the Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Department in the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), has highlighted the importance and benefits of the Dataflow project, local daily Al Watan has reported.

He has stressed that the Dataflow programme is one of the most important projects to be implemented in the health sector as it helps discover cases of forgery in applications for work in the medical sector, the report stated.

Dr al-Khanji said 15-17% of job applications involved forged documents when the project was first implemented. Now, following continuous implementation of the system, this figure has decreased to 4%, which marks a significant development and sends a strong message to those looking to provide forged documents, according to the report.

Replying to a query on complaints over the “time-consuming” recruitment process, al-Khanji said the most important issue is to appoint medical professionals who have genuine certificates to ensure that patients do not face any risks, the report states.

Al-Khanji said most of the forged documents detected are experience certificates with some applicants giving incorrect number of months to meet the criteria, according to the report.

 Katara to launch forum on plastic art

The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) has announced that a forum on plastic art will be launched in Qatar.

The forum will include works in various fields of art such as drawing, calligraphy, sculpture, mural paintings, mosaics and ceramics. It will be part of Katara’s strategy to create an appropriate environment for cultural and artistic creativity as well as care for and interest in art.