Qatar - Teaching Profession

The teaching profession in Qatar, as in other Arab Gulf states, is one characterized by large proportions of foreign teachers. The dominance of women in education, and their exclusion from areas such as engineering and administration, is also characteristic of the traditional religious restrictions placed upon women—although changes are underway. In 1992-1993 the number of women studying in the University of Qatar's Faculty of Education outnumbered the men an astounding 1,786 to 278. The traditionally acceptable role of women as teachers in Islamic societies is comfortably reinforced in the restrictive Wahhabi-influenced society of Qatar. Although there is much talk about Qatarization of the national workforce in areas such as education, it is clear that more participation of native men is needed if this goal is to be realized.

The College of Education was the first component of the modern University of Qatar to be established in 1973 as the Faculty of Education. Teachers are trained there for the various levels of basic education in the government system. A great variety of specialties are available for education majors, ranging from language education (English and Arabic), to science education, art education, and more. Teachers-in-training have the option of benefiting from and participating in the ongoing research of the university's Educational Technology Center and the Educational Research Center.

The British Council of Qatar has been involved in a program of quality improvement with regard to English-language education. English teaching supervisors in the Ministry of Education participated in training programs in 1999 as part of the ministry's strategy to improve the quality of instruction in state schools. Training and consulting provided through the British universities of Reading, Kent, and Nottingham are a component of the overall upgrading and reform of the Qatari national educational and training systems.