Qatar supports co-operation in higher education: minister

HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi has affirmed Qatar’s keenness to abide by international agreements and conventions to support and promote regional academic activities and international co-operation in the field of higher education and make it available to all for life.The minister said in a speech during his participation in the high-level meeting on the integration and mobility between students and faculty in higher education within the work of the 40th session of the General Conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), that Qatar through national and private institutions of higher education, is working in partnership with international organisations and civil society organisations to provide education opportunities to millions of young people, children, displaced persons in the developing world, which had been weary of disputes  and armed conflicts, believing that education is a human right wherever it exists, regardless of gender, colour or belief.The minister said that Qatar Vision 2030 and the strategic plans for the education and training sector include results, programmes and indicators for higher education, pointing out in this context to the establishment of new colleges and departments at Qatar University as the national university, as well as the establishment of many branches of international universities in the country with the participation of the private sector, which provided free higher education opportunities for citizens and a large number of members of communities living in the country and expatriates from countries suffering from armed conflicts.He also stressed country’s keenness to provide higher education opportunities for the poor and displaced people in the world, especially in developing countries, noting in this context to the co-operation of the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, with global organisations such as Unesco, the International Monetary Fund, the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) and other national and regional organisations, and through the Al Fakhoora programme.The minister said that the EAA Foundation, in co-operation with these organisations, has provided scholarships and access to higher education for displaced youth from several countries such as Palestine and Syria, as well as support, reconstruction and rehabilitation of many educational institutions affected by conflict, including (18) universities.HE Dr al-Hammadi said that Qatar participated as a member of Unesco in the preparation of the draft global convention for the recognition of qualifications of higher education, which includes the recognition of scientific qualifications granted through a variety of ways and means in accordance with the standards of Qatar. Accreditation procedures are also facilitated for the qualifications of individual refugees and displaced persons, and the requirements for submitting the required documents are eased in order to obtain appropriate employment in Qatar, the minister added.