QNA
Doha
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) marked the International Day of Education by holding a slew of activities on Wednesday under the theme ‘Education is Everyone’s Responsibility’.
The day was marked with discussion on modern educational issues such as artificial intelligence in education, the importance of encouraging investment in educational services, preserving human resources in light of the acceleration of the world of automation, and other topics related to education.
Assistant Undersecretary for Private Education Affairs at the MoEHE Omar Abdulaziz Al Naama said the International Day of Education, which is marked on January 24, is an important global occasion that was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018 to highlight the importance of education in building societies, promoting progress in all aspects of life, and achieving the goals of sustainable development.
During his speech, Naama said the International Day of Education is marked this year under the theme ‘Education is Everyone’s Responsibility’, as it is the basic right of every individual and the way through which the quality of life can be improved, horizons broadened, and ambitions achieved.
He pointed out that this day reminds the entire world of the importance of providing education to all children and youth, and the need to eliminate all challenges that stand in their way, whether social, economic, or cultural.
He added that education is not only a means of acquiring knowledge, but it is a tool for empowerment, capacity building, and promoting human values of tolerance and equality.
He noted that education enhances opportunities for sustainable development, contributes to promoting peace in societies, and is a fundamental pillar for building a strong economy capable of facing global challenges, which is what Qatar seeks to achieve through its 2030 vision.
Naama pointed out that the International Day of Education is an invitation for everyone to work together to provide fair, comprehensive, and accessible education for all.
He explained that investing in education is an investment in the future and the ultimate way to build a better world.
The MoEHE assistant undersecretary said that the theme of the International Day of Education 2025 focuses on an important issue, which is artificial intelligence and preserving human power in light of the acceleration of the world of automation and AI applications.
He said the ministry aims through this event to highlight investment opportunities in education to enhance human identity, consolidate human values, and anticipate the future together.
For her part, Director of the Educational Services Centers Department at the MoEHE Iman Ali Al Nuaimi emphasised the importance of education as a fundamental pillar of sustainable development and its role in promoting social and economic development.
She noted that the occasion of the International Day of Education aims to shed light on education and its pivotal role in building societies and achieving sustainable development.
She said the theme “Education is Everyone’s Responsibility” reflects the necessity of concerted efforts to provide educational opportunities that meet the requirements of the future.
She added that the Educational Services Centers Department in the Private Education Affairs Sector is concerned with all affairs of educational and training centres within specific specialisations.
Nuaimi pointed out that the Educational Services Centers provide their services in eight main areas - tutoring, educational training, administrative training, computer education, education and training for people with disabilities, mental mathematics, language education, and visual arts.
She said there are 151 centres, including 33 centres specialised in services for people with disabilities, where the best possible educational services are provided to this category.
She stressed the importance of encouraging investment in educational services, noting the department’s efforts to attract investors in general, and Qataris in particular, to invest in this vital sector.
She emphasised that the department pays special attention to encouraging educational institutions to offer short-term and model training programmes that are in line with the needs of the labor market.
Partnerships Manager at Al Fakhoora Programme at Education Above All (EAA) Foundation Abdullah Salem Al Bakri said the Foundation’s projects extend currently to 53 countries and include approximately 80 educational projects, adding that the Foundation’s programmes are diverse and each project targets a specific group to promote education.
He spoke about the Educate a Child programme which works in partnership with various organisations to achieve substantial progress in providing opportunities for children who have dropped out of school.
He added that the programme has so far reached 12 million children around the world, while touching on the Al Fakhoora programme which aims to promote the right to education in countries suffering from armed conflict, with a focus on refugees and displaced persons.
He said Qatar Scholarship Programme offers a comprehensive model for higher education in light of its ongoing efforts to benefit from youth potential in the most fragile areas, stressing that work is continuing to equip and empower beneficiaries with the skills necessary to achieve their full potential and contribute to post-conflict recovery efforts.
Manager of Media Initiatives Department at Al Jazeera Media Institute Montaser Marei said that the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies poses special challenges in the Arab context, noting that the most prominent of these challenges is the weakness of Arabic digital content, which is witnessing a decline in quantity compared to previous years.
He added that the volume of Arabic content is currently estimated at less than 0.5 percent of the total global digital content, reflecting the impact of the significant growth in the volume of content in other languages on our digital position.
Marei pointed out the importance of artificial intelligence in improving learning and teaching processes, in a way that serves all parties to the educational process, including students, professors and institutions.
