The Evaluation Institute trains teachers on electronic portfolios

Forging ahead in its efforts to ensure quality of school leaders and teachers, the Evaluation Institute of the Supreme Education Council (SEC) continues to train teachers in all cohorts of independent schools on how to complete the procedures for obtaining their entry license.

The Qatar Office of Registration, Licensing and Accreditation (QORLA) in collaboration with a team from the Qatar National Educational Database Systems (QNEDS) has developed a plan for teachers to create their electronic profiles in order to obtain the professional licenses needed to practice the teaching profession or school leadership in Qatar as per the National Professional Standards for Teachers and School Leaders (NPSTSL) set up by the SEC.

QORLA is charged with the responsibility of enhancing and supporting teachers from the time they enter the field and throughout their careers. Teachers who receive such professional licenses hold documents similar to those carried by other professionals like doctors and engineers. The three-year registration process spans three levels – entry, professional and advanced – with issuance of a certificate in each level being based on the level of proficiency of a teacher or leader.

QORLA began a pilot training program in five independent schools at the beginning of 2010 where the teachers and leaders had a feel of how to electronically create their portfolios. To date, the number of teachers who have registered has reached 3000 and more than 1500 of them have applied for the entry license.

QORLA introduced portfolios, as a tool for teachers and school leaders to demonstrate his/her competence against the NPSTSL, and as a tool for in-school attestation committees and the QORLA Principal-Operator attestation panel to assess the level of full license to be awarded to a teacher or leader.

The QNEDS is a major educational initiative, underpinned by technology, which will provide easy access to comprehensive, timely, meaningful information about Qatar's education system from a range of inputs such as tests, surveys and other educational data sources. It will unlock the potential of existing data by providing access to a variety of users including the SEC staff, principals, teachers, parents, students and all stakeholders. People can access the portal to the QNEDS via www.qneds.sec.gov.qa