The SEC to set up competency standards for technical education and training

The Policy Analysis and Research in the Supreme Education Council (SEC) hosted seminar on Monday, January 25, 2010 at the Four Seasons hotel to mark the establishment of a consultative forum with stakeholders to develop a strategic plan for the establishment of national competency standards for technical education.

In the presence of HE Saad bin Ibrahim al Mahmoud, the Minister for Education and Secretary General of the SEC, international and domestic examples of technical good practice were discussed including quality assurance procedures and plans to integrate technical qualifications into a National Qualifications Framework.

During the seminar, H. E. Minister of Education and Higher Education Saad Bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud confirmed that the State of Qatar recognized that improving education was not only desirable, but crucial to helping Qatar achieve its goals of becoming a more open, democratic society with a diversified and vibrant economy.

“The SEC’s Education for a New Era initiative is built on proven principles of effective schools and is designed to meet the individual needs of students,” said HE Al-Mahmoud. “Qatar has also taken great strides in providing internationally recognized higher education facilities for our youth to enable them to compete in the 21st century global economy and achieve Qatar’s national vision 2030.”

As Qatar moves towards preparing its students with a world-class education, there is urgent need to balance tertiary education with internationally recognized technical training and development, and provide equally valuable technical and vocational qualifications as part of the National Qualifications Framework.

“According to the Qatar statistics for the year 2008, more than 17000 Qatari employees do not hold a general secondary school certificate, a number that represents 25% of the total number of employees in Qatar,” said Dr. Aziza Al Saadi, Manager at the Policy Analysis and Research Office. “At the beginning of 2010, the Ministry of Labor registered three thousand Qatari secondary school graduates job seekers. Such facts should lead us to think about other educational alternatives that can attract this big number of Qatari youths to join the work force to help in the development of the national economy.”

Employers in today’s dynamic and global environment not only seek to hire individuals that understand or pass exams on the theory of various disciplines, but there is demand for

individuals who can immediately apply their knowledge to a specific function by being vocationally or technically competent in their profession.

“Technical education is a valuable addition to our education system. The employment market includes technical sectors that do need academic qualifications or degrees as much as it requires skills and practical knowledge,” concluded Dr. Al Saadi.

Consequently, HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, the Minister for Education and Secretary General of the SEC has authorized the development of a strategic plan with three objectives:

1. To establish national vocational and technical competency standards for the State of Qatar
2. To work in conjunction with the Higher Education Institute to integrate vocational and technical qualifications into a National Qualifications Framework.
3. To establish specially designed vocational technical training facilities capable of providing internationally accredited competency standards that suit the needs of the Qatar labor market

This seminar is intended to outline the objectives and methodology, but most of all, we wish to invite the cooperation of national stakeholders to participate in developing this plan through a Strategic Planning Consultative Forum.