KidZania Doha, the award-winning edutainment concept, is sponsoring ‘the biggest educational event’ in Qatar, EdEx Qatar 2018, which opens today at Westin Doha.
The two-day event is being held from 8am to 4pm. KidZania’s Global Director of Education Dr Ger Graus OBE is a keynote speaker. His address and the subsequent panel session will focus on KidZania’s global education strategy, including its Think-Tank, Ambassador Schools and Industry Partners. 
Its local, contextualised implementation and the evaluation in partnership with Havas Helia and Tribal Planet Inc amongst others, lead to a ‘Global Barometer of Children’s Aspirations’.
When Dr Ger Graus was asked how will KidZania Doha complement the education in Qatar, he said: “KidZania complements what goes on in school; it gives purpose to what is being taught and fans the flames of curiosity in children’s learning. Educationally, KidZania is the ‘appliance of science”. 
“The learning experience at KidZania is facilitated, not taught; it is a piece of the learning jigsaw and relates to Harvard University’s Visible Thinking. As such the KidZania experience should not be viewed in isolation but in connection with what children already know, with their natural instinct of the curious and their thirst for more. In the light of this there are also additional developments such as a KidZania Education Calendar which allows for special events to take place within the environment of KidZania”.
“Parents, carers and families too are teachers, as they show, point out, declare, demonstrate, give instruction, train, assign, direct; warn; persuade. The concept of Connect-Extend-Challenge is one that extends to the home too and education is not the sole domain and responsibility of schools. We know that where all the children’s grown-ups work together and pull in the same direction the quality of learning experiences as well as the learning outcomes are significantly enhanced – and so is the fun!” He also added that role-play is a universal concept that is a means of expression often copied from what we see – from what we want to be like or do. Reggio Children Founder Loris Malaguzzi believed the physical environment to be of fundamental importance to the early childhood programme; he referred to it as the “third teacher”, alongside adults and other students – the role-model and the role-player in KidZania terms. The importance of the environment lies in the belief that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support “complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas.”
KidZania Doha, expected to open its doors later this year, will be located at Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar. It will provide a unique educational and entertainment experience, offering 42 establishments where children will be able to role play ‘adult jobs’ in up to 60 pretend roles, learning a variety of values including self-reliance, team work, honesty, integrity and giving back to society. KidZania is the world’s fastest growing family entertainment brand, with KidZania Doha expecting to welcome over 300,000 visitor year-on-year.
 The establishment will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 children with approximately 250 employees at any one time.