The Ministry of Education and Higher Education launched on Tuesday the electronic school equivalence service as part of its online services for the public.
Addressing a press conference, the Assistant Undersecretary for the Evaluation Authority at the Ministry of Education, Khalid Abdullah al-Harqan, announced that the service will be applied in two phases: the first will be for private school students in Qatar and the second is concerned with the equivalence of certificates for students coming from abroad.
He pointed out that, in view of the increase in the number of private schools in Qatar, the movement of students from private to government institutions and others who finish secondary school studies in private schools, everyone is in need of equivalence of their diplomas. This is especially so since private schools follow different curricula, and there is a need to equate the certificates in accordance with the educational standards of Qatar.
He noted that many students of private schools, who are completing 12th grade in Qatar need to equate their school certificates, whether for university in Qatar or abroad or to join the labour market.
Also, the students who wish to transfer from private to government schools, need the equate their certificate to ascertain at what level they can be enrolled in.
About 7,000 requests were received in 2019 for the equivalence of school certificates, including 4,000 from within Qatar and 3,000 from abroad, al-Harqan revealed.
He pointed out that the launch of this service starting Tuesday will facilitate for parents and students and will allow them to obtain the service through computers, as well as mobile phones.
He added that the Information Systems Management at the ministry and the Based Equivalent Diplomas department have trained their employees in government service centres to assist parents and students with using the electronic system.
Al-Harqan explained that the ministry has a package of electronic services for parents, which will be announced later, including those related to obtaining school certificates.
He also reviewed the steps to use the system and download the required documents, which are available in it, making it easier for the guardian to take the required action and receiving the official equivalence to their ward's certificate, academic level and percentage obtained.
Meanwhile, Director of Students Information Centre at the Ministry Ibrahim Rajab al-Kuwari talked about the advantages of the electronic system and the facilities provided for the parents, students and the public, thanking the team that worked on this programme.
He said that any person can submit a request for equivalence of certification and obtain the result according to each category, as some transactions may be completed within 24 hours and others within 48 hours, according to the certificate equivalency policy in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
The main page for the equivalence of certificates and pre-approval includes three services, which are the equivalence of school certificates, the equivalence of university degrees, and the prior approval of university study on private expense.
The applicant for school equivalence service must have a residence permit in Qatar.
