Bad news for schools in Qatar?

the birdie, sure, some international schools have different standards than others.

well-qualifed, Masters in Mathematics, have joined in the International schools,,,,,,,,and left the job due to the "horrible " atmosphere and lousy attitude towards discipline and lack of sincerity of students to "learn"

Stealth, not it actually is not. They simply can't find the standard they are looking for when it comes to Arabic teachers.

thats the lamest excuse every school gives to justify appointing incompetent teachers....

2020, that is true! Sad fact is, that children in international schools are taught Arabic, but learn hardly any! Due to bad teachers. I have been told that it is nearly impossible to find good Arabic teachers.

I do not agree with this step , as much as the teachers may be qualified , the students in independent schools are not willing to get well education in the first place and many teachers know that ....

It's rife in international and community schools, but usually in particular speciality subjects--Arabic language teaching being the best example.

thx nomerci ,i'll do that,in the matter of fact,im calling them right now,thx again

killer g most British curriculum schools start on the 15th of April. Don't know about the American schools though. You can call the schools you are interested in now, they all have phone messages stating when they are open again.

No im talking about international schools....I don't know about state schools.

Are we talking about International schools that do this such as American and British curriculum? Or is it State schools or other national schools?

Dash201- No I'm not talking about my own school and talking about other schools over here. It is rife! I work within the Newton Schools.

killer - I was asking MT if their school employed unqualified teachers as well as qualified. Personally, I think testing is a good idea. Same as any employment really - if you know your job/vocation then you have no worries about doing it. It will dig the imposters from the rest.

thanks namerci,i'll try that after the easter holiday is over,but,the big question is:"when it will be over?,coz in my school,there is no easter holiday"

killer g, no sorry, I have not. But as I said, once the Easter holidays are over, I'd suggest, if you really want to change to another system, that you go and visit those schools you are considering. Take your grade papers etc. with you.

Good luck!

@namerci:yes im in an arabic school,and im in the jordanian school,you probably heard of it once.

@dash:what do you mean by:

(Are the teachers at the same school as yours?)

if you ment the quality then yea they all sucks,but if you mean anything else,tell me

Are the teachers at the same school as yours?

Which school are you at? Cryptic clues welcome or PM

Killer G, might be difficult , depends on your grades and the system you are in. In the British system, in year 10 they prepare the students for the IGCSE, which happens in year 11...so IF you want to change, you better go to the schools and talk to them personally.

And the fees are a LOT higher in those schools.

Are you in an Arabic school?

lol,good thing that i read your comment the-b.,bcoz i didn't know that,but how about the fee's?are they high?

in my current school i pay around 15000 qr. for literally NOTHING

in the name of "INDEPENDENT SCHOOL" they charge exorbitant fees from the parents.....and the quality of the education, I can vouch, is equivalent of Expatriate school.

But they have created a "HYPE" in such a way that parents fall easy prey on their net. In the name of INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS, they bring unqualified, untrained teachers, who are their friends / friends wife / cousin etc etc...

There may be a very few good teachers, but the quality of the educations is not so BIG DEAL in Independent Schools

what are you doing here at QL? Isnt your membership a violation of QL guidelines???

im 16 years old,10th grade,i think i'll go to an independent school,so what do you think?

killer g, what year are you in? What kind of school are you going to now?

killer-g - why not complain to SEC, the civil defense etc and see what happens.

wish we had such tests in India. I wouldn't have been here.

i'll next year,but any suggestions,bcoz idk what school i should go to,thx in advance.

killer g, that sounds pretty horrible...can't you change to a better school?

they should try this on my school,its a private school,there main money is to get money from ppl,for nothing,and by nothing i mean literally nothing,nothing but un-qualified teachers,bugs,mosqitos,small and dirty classes,bad students(i mean the ones who hit teachers),you can find every thing bad in there,even some hook-ups!!!!!!

and there is no fire exit,and there is no fire alarm ,not counting the empty labs,the closed IT room,etc.

Even if the kids with the fake grades do get into Education City colleges, they will most likely fail thier university courses.

It takes a lot more than grades to get in, especially Cornell.

The problem occurs "if" teachers are forced to assign higher marks to students to ensure that they acquire the required grades to pass and go on to university.. This has allegedly happened in Saudi and thus damaged teh eduction programmes.

Uk have trained far too many teachers for the amount of job vacancies & the retirement age has gone up so teachers who were meant to retire are working an extra 5yrs or so. Therefore the amount of teachers having to look else where for jobs & leave their families to persue their career is on the increase.

Also in England, the probation year that is compulsory and allocated in Scotland to gain a full teachers qualification, is not required to get a job over here. There are plenty of teachers over here paid the same as me but haven't got their full teachers qualification and therefore also less qualified.

But how will students ever graduate with the high marks needed to gain admission to the Education Cuty colleges if there the primary and secondary schools are employing deficient teachers?

Wouldn't a simpler solution, and maybe this has already been implemented, is to wait for the older generation of teachers to retire, while at the same time ensuring that the new teachers being recruited meet the newer and higher standards?

Yip and they get paid the same as qualified teachers or sometimes even more!!!

About time too, but it probably won't work because schools will have to raise fees to recruit qualified teachers. There are too many non-qualified and ill equiped teachers in the Middle East..

I wonder of this is just another one of those ideas that sounds good on paper but have unforeseen, unintended and unpleasant consequences.

Mandi

To maintain a good standard of teaching it was much needed.

Wonder if it will actually happen....no one has heard anything about it so far!

It won't mean anything if like everything else, if someone doesn't pass, they will get wasta'ed in somehow...

I doubt ASD would have an issue having their teachers take the test- the majority of teachers have advanced degrees in their subject areas. But I doubt ASD will be asked to do it in the first place.

Hopefully this will allow the salaries to increase. I've heard about teachers in the Indian schools making 2,000qr a month. Why not just be a maid- a lot less responsibility!

Yes Favorsim needs to go out of the vocabulary of Qatar.

I was very much disappointed and saddened when a friend of mine (a Dr. in electrical engineering and a Teacher at Qatar Un and a very qualified one) was sacked from his job because he refused to help one of his favored students pass his exam.

'Like everything the plan is to implement this right away and for all current and incoming teachers, but whether it will happen is another issue altogether.......

The intention is good, but the implementation may be a disaster.'

In my experience of the SEC they are a knee-jerk reactive organisation who rely on outside experts telling them what should be done. The SEC try and comply without knowing or understanding why they are doing such measures.

12 months ago they tried registering all teachers in Qatar and propelling them through a variety of levels of qualification. Only the first step was implemented - giving information on qualifications and experience.....since then nothing further happened and the whole process appears to have been shelved- but of course the whole organisation is so opaque no one knows what is occurring. The move in the OP appears to be the SEC's 'plan B', having realised that their administration could not cope with their original plan which detailed the fact (off the top of my head) that less than half of all the teachers in Qatar had any form of recognised teaching qualification.

The same is true of their school validation programme - it starts with much fanfare but target dates are pushed further and further back until everyone has forgotten about them.

I doubt these measures will come to fruition, or if they do, the impact on schools will be slight;in reality you have to have someone standing in front of a class and schools can only recruit once a year.

Fubar--many Qatari teachers do not have full qualifications and work in more specialized capacities--especially Arabic teachers and such. Some are worried this is an effort to purge them in favor of foreigners with more formal qualifications. IMO this also plays into fears of having too many foreigners involved in the education of our children. The comments are political on that level at least.

It is a Much Awaited News, and a Good One!!!

There Should be NO Discrimination when it comes to taking Exams of Teachers...

lb, Every Private School should be included, and i hope NO ONE is left behind....

SCE will do this for all schools

But is it going to happen with Indian schools also?? They also need better teachers...Lets hope for the best...

to maintain quality education in the country.

Similar to certain controlled functions, licensed Doctors, Driving instructors, etc.

this is good news

I think it's a good idea.

I do have questions about why teachers should need to get 3 attempts to pass.

Does this imply that if they fail once because they didn't answer a certain question correctly they can simply go and learn whatever it is they missed and then they'll pass?

Shouldn't teachers know these things first time?

And why in the article is there a remark about how this "amounted to a conspiracy against Qatari teachers"? Has anyone read the Arabic original and can expand on this accusation?

I Think its a very gud idea...the future of our new generation is finally saved and will be in safe hands InshAllah

It is in fact simple: the SEC should set the standards for the education system in Qatar. Anybody who wants to be a part of that system should qualify. It will make education more expensive, that's all (as if this was a problem for Qatar).

agree with testing but I wonder about the test. really questions about local culture and religion for teachers in international schools? why?

but on the skills sections every teacher needs to pass and have qualifications to back them up. for the teachers on this thread and in the article that are so worried my advice is to find a new profession. you have no business in classrooms!

good step

MT said "since you made this whole forum directed at me".

Yes, ALL threads and posts on QL about teaching and education are about YOU. ROFL.

Yes this is a big concern and my reason number 2 on my OP. It is why I have mixed feelings about this action.

Squabbling children and teachers aside, I worry about what this will do the school situation. There are already too few schools in place. Putting more restrictions will only make this worse and existing teachers are removed for failing the exam.

No UK...it happend here..In India tests are really though and you need to really work hard to get through..

Osama, private schools can hire anybody, but they have to register the teachers with the SEC and this requires certifications like MSc or such. There was a rule that teachers who are at least five years in the same position will also be registered. I don't know if that's still the case.

MT you are an English teacher then? I'm sorry if you mentioned this before but its a genuine question :)

hahaha! I was waiting on that 2020, you were just dying to say this, since you made this whole forum directed at me - which you will deny of course and say I'm paranoid bla bla bla :) but thanks! :)

u can post all you want and make snide comments about my much deserved and honours degree backed up career....I know I will always have my job :D

Smoke - wrong :)

smoke no qualification needed for a Nursery Teacher, you just need to be a lousy housewife who has plenty of time to spare!

oops did I say too much..I hope my Helmet comes handy for the retaliation! I am out of here see you guys later!

Ah thats good, man when i was a kid I used to go to a housewife who would teach us ABC and cat mat rat lol.

Smoke--hopeful a degree in early childhood studies! An understanding of childhood development is very important. Can't let someone passing themselves off as a teacher simply because they claim it into the classroom with such young children.

Better start studying MT! I have a feeling you will require MUCH preparation.

MT is a nursery teacher am i right? What qualifications would one need to teach toddlers?

Its a wise decision by the Council and i feel should be implemented towards other qualifications like doctors, engineers etc.

nope!

MT is your School a specialised School? catering for special needs?

Ah....good news then!

LP, i heard (don't know how true is it) that some private international schools are just hiring teachers in one condition only which is "to be a native speaker" so yes i guess that this has to be verified

If you are at a private school MT, it would ultimately apply to you.

The only possible exceptions are the community schools, which in the eyes of the SEC are not standard private schools.

Yeah its a shame they wont be doing it with my private school.

LP--As they are "community" schools (e.g. nonprofits attached to embassies to serve the needs of a specific expat community) they are usually exempt from such things, including the new requirements of Arabic instruction. But this may be an exception to this practice.

Private Western schools--Compass, Park House, Sherbourne, would be subjected to the rule just like any private school.

FS was this back in Gods own Country?

I agree UkEng

osama, do you think that the American School of Doha or the Doha College would expose their teachers to such a test? I have my doubts.

Good move indeed.

I have heard this news circulating for a while. Nothing is set but the current thinking according to my contacts is as follows:

1. This applies to all schools except the community schools (ASD, DESS, Doha College)--although there is a push to include them. These schools are exempted from many of the Supreme Council's requirements, such as the Arabic requirement. Other private international schools would be subject to the rules, even if they are English-speaking. This would include Park House, Sherbourne, Compass, etc.

2. The exam WILL include questions about local history, culture (read Islam and national culture). It will also include questions about teaching theory and practice and questions on maths and sciences tailored to the teaching level.

Like everything the plan is to implement this right away and for all current and incoming teachers, but whether it will happen is another issue altogether. Many long-term teachers, particularly in the Indian and Arabic-speaking schools, have spoken out against this. I suspect the English-speaking schools to do the same once news spread.

FYI--I am not a teacher, but such bits of information as this run across my desk routinely. I cannot judge yet if this is a good or bad idea. The intention is good, but the implementation may be a disaster.

I once wrote a written test for a job.. they gave me a Pencil to write ... probably because it is easy to change my name and put some other name on that sheet... and the computer skills test was not by any software..they asked to do certain things and asked me to save it with my name..is it difficult to save in some other name? I am not talking about any local company.. one of the reputed Govt organization...

Hope this exam is not for the sake of it..

I think they should also make it Mandatory for Teachers to get Aa minimum number of Training days each year to refresh their skills.

yeah but this is only for the independent schools, in my opinion they should do the same for all other private schools as well to insure that the teachers are qualified indeed and they really know how to deal with kids

Good move to improve the quality of the education...have heard many complaints from parents regarding the teachers n their poor standards....

I will mark this day on my calendar.

Yes. For once I agree with you LP. I would like to know what is on the exam.

If it is the Supreme Council writing it, the exam will likely have questions about local culture, history, language and such (a big initiative now) alongside questions about best practices of teaching. Although important, such things take time for outsiders to learn, unlike basic skills tests in maths and language.

2020, this is the happiest day in my life. Thanks, man.

Very good move...now its like anyone who can talk English can be an English teacher in these schools. This will definitely improve the quality of teaching here...

Great idea if it comes about and good news for schools!! :)

my wife is looking to move here as a new qual teacher, rightly it shiould be harder for your to find a job.

This is childrens futures we are talking about, i had bad teachers in school that effected my learning. i had to work harder than everyone else to get where i am.

The title is in the form of a question. The article has quotes for both sides, so I am leaving upon the debate for QLrs to post their opinions. Also I am not full decided myself.

That is a good news for the students to be with teachers who are qualified. Schools are opposing it as they will not be able to bring staff who are their kith and kin at a low salary.

The question will be how difficult the test is.

Yes I agree UkEng. This is becoming a problem as is ensuring teachers have quality qualifications. I think regular testing is not the only solution but a good step to root out bad or unqualified teachers.

I do however worry that it will put a strain on the education system as it adjusts.

You pay peanuts you get Monkeys, But at least the Monkeys you will get now will have to prove their worth!

Why is the Title BAD NEWS FOR SCHOOLS IN QATAR, I thought it would be GOOD NEWS!

At least we will know who have fake degrees and who are competent!

That is a perfect step! Now they will have to pay three times more for really qualified teachers!