College of the North Atlantic – Qatar (CNA-Q) marked World Teachers’ Day with a two-day event that included keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops.
The event, organised in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science (QNCECS), got off yesterday with an opening ceremony.
It was attended by a large number of teaching fraternity members and aims to honour the teachers of Qatar, and specifically the college’s instructors.
QNCECS secretary general Dr Hamda al-Sulaiti highlighted the role of teachers in the highly-evolving academic scenario in the present world.
“Teaching is a continuous learning process in the modern times as the academic paradigms change every now and then,” she said. “They must have the efficiency and proficiency to meet the challenges of the modern times and need to update themselves everyday with the emerging scenarios.”
Dr Anna Paolini, director of the Unesco Regional Office in Doha, highlighted the importance of education.
“Education promotes tolerance peace and social inclusion. It enables children and the young people to fulfil their potential and do away poverty,” she said. “In spite of the advancements in education, a large number of students are deprived of education worldwide and this is a major challenge for everyone. It also highlights the role of teachers in the modern times.”
Renowned post-secondary scholar Dr Ken Coates, research chair for Regional Innovation, Canada, in his keynote speech focused on post-secondary education and the important linkages with industry.
During the event, he will give a series of seminars focused on higher education in the technical and vocational training sector and skills development, which are open to the public.
“As Qatar’s comprehensive technical college, we deliver internationally-recognised technical and vocation education in partnership with employers for Qatar’s evolving economy,” said CNA-Q (academic) vice-president Samah Gamar. “At CNA-Q, we believe in technical education and vocational training as an educational pathway that serves communities, businesses, industry and the economy as a whole – in an equivalent way to traditional higher educational institutions like universities.”
In addition to public events, CNA-Q instructors will partake in “Faculty Development Day”, which is a series of professional development sessions aligned with their teaching course load and area of speciality.
Theme-specific workshops will bring facilitators from Canada and Qatar to offer a diverse portfolio of workshops.
Each of the college’s nearly 500 faculty members will be given professional development opportunities under themes such as student engagement, tech-assisted learning, online platforms, and experiential classroom techniques.