QNA
New York
Minister of Education and Higher Education HE Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi has underlined that education is a basic right for children both in times of stability and crisis. The minister made the remarks at the ‘Education and Learning in Times of Emergencies and Protracted Crises’ session within the activities of the ‘Transforming Education Summit’, which was called for by the UN Secretary-General to be convened in New York on September 16, 17 and 19.
Addressing the session, Nuaimi noted that education in times of emergencies represents more than a right for education for children, rather it provides a psychological support and a stability factor to help them overcome the trauma they face every day, and a feeling that life has returned to normal, enhances resilience, supports long-term recovery processes and rebuilds a better future.
Highlighting Qatar’s contribution to the humanitarian and sustainable development projects at the, the minister said Qatar is a major contributor worldwide by investing in education, health and economic empowerment. She noted that Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has provided nearly $1 billion in grants for educational projects in 64 countries over the past decade, while the Education Above All Foundation has reached more than 10 million out-of-school children in 56 countries and is constantly expanding its reach and impact.
"In response to the educational loss resulted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education Above All Foundation established a free and multi-discipline creative bank for educational resources, ensuring the continuity of learning for more than 600,000 children in 170 countries despite the low resources,” she said. "Moreover, the Foundation and its partners recently launched the "TRACE” data portal to bridge the global gap for reliable, high-quality, accessible data that collects, visualises and provides coordinated analysis of data on attacks on education.”
The minister highlighted the importance of all the gathered parties working to ensure that a higher proportion of development aid and government spending is allocated to the teaching and learning system, in line with the education commitment in times of crisis project; indicating that this is not only a moral duty, but is essential for achieving sustainable development and a safer world for all.
"Everyone must work together, side by side, to build education systems that are more resilient in the face of environmental and health crises, violent conflicts and other natural and climate crises that we must inevitably prepare to address,” she added.
In an opening speech at the ‘Localising Education for a Sustainable Future session, Nuaimi focused on the importance of localising education, paying special attention to the issue of bilingualism, values and identity, and localising the content of school curricula.
She expressed happiness to share the work in this context with Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and Djibouti, as well as the Regional Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Qatar.
She noted that the demographic structure of includes, in addition to the Qatari citizens, an important number of various other nationalities working in the country and contributing to its national development, making the State of Qatar a multicultural and multilingual environment supportive of coexistence, mutual understanding and peace.
As part of the ‘Solution Day’ in which multi-stakeholders presented initiatives that will contribute to transforming education, the minister presented an overview of Qatar’s ‘Rasikh’ initiative, the new digital learning platform launched by Qatar Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in cooperation with Djibouti and the UNESCO Regional Office in Qatar.
The platform connects all teachers and local institutions in Qatar from the public and private sectors and other key institutions, in a codified mechanism to establish knowledge that can immediately reach the classrooms.