QCDC unveils new career advising system in schools

Students across public secondary schools in Qatar stand to benefit from anew Career Advising System (CAS), set to be rolled out during thesecond semester of 2017-2018 academic year, it was announced. The new system is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) betweenQatar Career Development Centre (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation(QF) and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education aimed at helpingstudents choose the right career path in line with the country’s jobmarket needs.“We are delighted to witness a new milestone in QCDC’s journey,expanding our reach to provide all students across public secondaryschools in Qatar with career guidance services that will have a lastingimpact on their academic and career journeys,” QCDC director Abdullaal-Mansoori said.He was speaking on the sidelines of ‘Career Guidance StakeholdersPlatform 2018’ yesterday at the Qatar National Convention Centre,organised under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser,Chairperson of QF, in partnership with the Unesco Doha Office and theMinistry of Education and Higher Education. “QCDC is very much keen todevelop the capabilities of human capital of Qataris and also toreinforce them in their career in keeping with their needs and also theneeds of the market in Qatar,” al-Mansoori noted.Describing the system as a unique advising system, he said CAS provides atailor-made solution that factors in Qatar’s social and economicconditions. “The new system features diverse and innovative components,as well as  psychometric and personality assessment tools to helpstudents identify the most appropriate academic and career paths in linewith the future needs of Qatar,” al-Mansoori said.CAS’ implementation forms part of the MoU signed in 2017 between QCDCand the Ministry of Education and Higher Education aimed at establishinga strategic partnership to promote academic, career development, andcareer guidance-related activities.“Career guidance plays an important role in the academic and careerjourneys of students, helping youth discover their talents and developtheir skills to meet the demand for skilled professionals in varioussectors,” Fawzia al-Khater, Assistant Under-Secretary for EducationalAffairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, said. She said the MoU between the Ministry and QCDC culminated in severaltraining programmes, including intensive career guidance trainingstargeting academic and career counsellors across public schools inQatar. “The agreement eventually laid the foundations for implementing anew Career Advising System developed by QCDC to guide 10th gradestudents into planning their academic and career paths,” al-Khaterexplained.She added that the nationwide implementation of the new advising system,designed to meet the requirement of Qatar’s education environment, is afirst of its kind initiative in the Middle East. Al-Khater also lauded the active partnership between QCDC and theMinistry, represented by the Academic and Career Guidance Division ofthe Department of Educational Guidance, praising the latter for itsefforts in following up on the implementation of the joint programmeswith QCDC. Such partnership and co-operation witnessed QCDC trainingmore than 70 academic counsellors on the use and integration of CASacross secondary schools in Qatar to offer career guidance services forstudents.CAS was developed by QCDC in co-operation with Kuder Inc, a world leaderin career planning services, and various government entities, aimed atintegrating specialised Information and Technology solutions into thecareer guidance framework in Qatar.