QNA
New York
Qatar is one of the leading countries in the process of digital transformation in education and is always keen to protect it from conflicts, Minister of Education and Higher Education HE Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi has said, while hailing the ministry’s measures to confront the COVID-19 pandemic in record time once it first broke out globally.
Nuaimi ascribed the country’s educational achievements to the importance the wise leadership attaches to education, which contributed to providing an infrastructure of well-trained educational cadres, electronic platforms, communication networks, digital sources and created students capable of dealing with modern technology.
In an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) in New York, the minister affirmed that Qatar, under the leadership of the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is playing a leading global role through its external development aid projects in the education, health and economic empowerment sectors.
She said Qatar’s unrelenting calls for the need to avert education the scourge of the ongoing conflicts around the world were widely approved by the international community, most notably the adoption of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly of the draft submitted by Qatar to adopt the International Day to protect Education from Attack in 2019, and the unanimously passed General Assembly resolution on the right to education in emergencies, a resolution submitted in 2010 by Qatar with the support of HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
She noted that the recently launched e-learning strategy aims to equip students with top-notch digital skills in order to prepare them for a future that depends heavily on these skills.
Asked about her view of the reality of education in the country, her impression about Qatar’s achievements and future plans, the minister stressed the State’s relentless approaches to achieve optimum quality assurance indicators in all inputs and outputs of the educational process in a way that meets the needs of society through fruitful efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, especially the fourth goal and its objectives, re-imagining the future of education and ensuring the right to education as a public benefit for all.
In response to a question about the many international initiatives related to education for Qatar and their results on the ground, the minister said Qatar, under the leadership of the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is playing a leading role internationally through foreign development assistance projects in the sectors of education, health and economic empowerment through partnerships with international organisations, which confirms its commitment to the international community to contribute to providing the right to education for all and accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and beyond, especially the fourth goal on quality education.
She pointed out that over the past 10 years, almost a billion dollars have been invested in development projects in the education sector, benefiting millions of children and young people in more than 60 countries, stressing that Qatar’s appeals to take education away from the ongoing conflict in the world have received a great resonance with the international community.
She stressed that Qatar is one of the leading countries in protecting education in emergency and crisis situations and that its foreign policy is keen to support and provide development and humanitarian assistance to the affected countries in various issues, especially providing quality education to millions of children who have lost their right to education due to conflicts, wars and disasters around the world.
The minister praised the leading role of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, hairperson of the Education Above All Foundation, in the adoption of the ‘International Day to Protect Education from Attack’, which proves the commitment of Qatar towards affirming the right to quality education for all, working to ensure the well-being of millions of children, placing education among the most important priorities to ensure the safety and protection of educational institutions, and ensuring access to quality education to conflict zones.
Commenting on the means to protect education from conflicts around the world and the role of the UN in this respect, she said Qatar was one of the pioneering countries to ratify the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015- an inter-governmental political commitment concerned with protecting students, teachers and various educational facilities from the impacts of armed conflicts by ensuring a set of commitments to enhance the protection of education from attacks in a way that ensures the continuity of education.
“Qatar called on all states to ratify and abide by the Declaration in a bid to ensure access to education in conflict areas, providing safe environments, developing appropriate educational systems, raising awareness and educating people to respect international laws that guarantee human rights,” she added.
Asked about the leading role of the Education Above All Foundation in protecting and spreading education in the world, she stressed that the foundation is one of the leading international institutions in the field of education support, adding that the foundation seeks to reach the fourth development goal through its global programmes that provide quality education opportunities for millions of out-of-school children, and also calls for building a global coalition to protect the right to education.
