Arabic and Qatari history make sense--they are the official language and culture of the country. The same should be true of any country.
Being Muslim is not compulsory in Qatar, and Sharia is not applied to non-Muslims (hence Fillipina maids caught in 'illicit' relations are not whipped, whereas their Egyptian lovers are--to use a recent example); therefore, neither of these should be separate subjects of study in secular expat schools. The most relevant aspects of Islam in terms of understanding the host culture can be taught through a compulsory study of Qatari history.
Both ASD and DESS offer Arabic as options, and local history is part of their curriculums even in the earliest years. In fact, a separate stream of Arabic literacy is offered at ASD for the mainly Qatari children who speak Arabic but read and write mainly in English due to their having been educated in English-speaking schools. The same ministry that has issued the statements in the original post has been complaining about this lack of Arabic literacy for some time.
It seems to me that this government group issues rather heated resolutions and demands from time to time, but not much comes of it. The reality is that if Islamic studies became compulsory in the secular expat schools (at least in the indoctrinating way this group seems to envision them being taught) many expats would leave. I also cannot imagine the Emir and the other leading figures in the government, who have worked so hard to foster a balanced tolerance for the other Abrahamic faiths, ever allowing something like this to come to pass. After all this is the leadership that donated land for Christians to build churches and was amongst the first in the Arabic world to condemn the recent bombings in Egypt. As much as I complain about Qatar not getting things right (and Genesis can attest to this ;-) ), this is something with which the national government has done very well.
Arabic and Qatari history make sense--they are the official language and culture of the country. The same should be true of any country.
Being Muslim is not compulsory in Qatar, and Sharia is not applied to non-Muslims (hence Fillipina maids caught in 'illicit' relations are not whipped, whereas their Egyptian lovers are--to use a recent example); therefore, neither of these should be separate subjects of study in secular expat schools. The most relevant aspects of Islam in terms of understanding the host culture can be taught through a compulsory study of Qatari history.
Both ASD and DESS offer Arabic as options, and local history is part of their curriculums even in the earliest years. In fact, a separate stream of Arabic literacy is offered at ASD for the mainly Qatari children who speak Arabic but read and write mainly in English due to their having been educated in English-speaking schools. The same ministry that has issued the statements in the original post has been complaining about this lack of Arabic literacy for some time.
It seems to me that this government group issues rather heated resolutions and demands from time to time, but not much comes of it. The reality is that if Islamic studies became compulsory in the secular expat schools (at least in the indoctrinating way this group seems to envision them being taught) many expats would leave. I also cannot imagine the Emir and the other leading figures in the government, who have worked so hard to foster a balanced tolerance for the other Abrahamic faiths, ever allowing something like this to come to pass. After all this is the leadership that donated land for Christians to build churches and was amongst the first in the Arabic world to condemn the recent bombings in Egypt. As much as I complain about Qatar not getting things right (and Genesis can attest to this ;-) ), this is something with which the national government has done very well.