A New SEC member takes the business of education seriously
Sheikha
Aisha bint Faleh bin Nasser Al-Thani is one of the newest
members of the Supreme
Education Council, appointed earlier this year to a three-year term. For a
number of years now, Mrs. Al-Thani has combined her interests in business and
education. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Arts and Education from Qatar
University, and an MBA from the University of Hull in the U.K. She hopes to
complete a PhD in Islamic Banking in the U.K. in the coming years.
In 2000, Mrs. Al-Thani founded Doha Academy, a private primary and secondary
school that emphasizes two areas: the British curriculum and instruction in
moderate Islamic studies. Mrs. Al-Thani has become increasingly involved in the
Reach Out to Asia charity initiative which, in addition to giving aid to areas
in need, is looking at ways to support schools in different Asian countries.
Each year, she helps organize a high-profile conference on an educational issue,
which, among other personalities, has brought Yusuf Islam, the folk-pop singer
formerly known as Cat Stevens, to Doha.
Mrs. Al-Thani sees the prominent role of Qatari women in the SEC and education
reform as a natural reflection of the culture. “It’s my personal feeling that
education has a lot to do with women as mothers. A mother knows exactly what she
would want for her kids in school, so I think she’s the right person to take
decisions.” In this interview with “Education for a New Era”, she discusses what
she hopes to contribute to the SEC, and the place of business tools such as
strategic management, competition and profit in education.
Q. As a new member of the SEC, what do you hope to
contribute to the Council?
First of all, I’m really honored that I was picked as a member of a team that
was drawn from top leaders in the educational field in Qatar and internationally
as well. It is really an honor.
The topic of my dissertation when I did my MBA was the educational reform in
Qatar. I analyzed the system, so I’m really familiar with its strengths. It has
a lot of strengths, as well as ways that we can make the system healthier. I
think that I can share this with people in the educational field in Qatar,
because I really gained deep insights into the system. For example, in my
studies I recommend the need for a monitoring system at individual schools, to
monitor a range of indicators rather than relying excessively on one. Right now
they’re relying on exam results, so though I’m for creating a results-focused
culture, there are other indicators that can make or break a school. I’m hoping
that I can contribute in this regard.
The other thing is that my area of expertise is strategic management, which is
really undermined in the educational sector. Strategic management is widely used
now. You cannot think of an organization that doesn’t have strategic objectives
and a plan for achieving them. The SEC has an extensive strategic plan. We have
objectives and we have a time plan. We think that after a certain number of
years the gap that we have right now between higher education and the
Independent Schools will close. Now individual schools need to adopt this model
as well.
I think coming from a business background as well as an educational background
also makes me appreciate the introduction of competition, not only among public
schools but among private and public schools as well.
Q. How do you think competition strengthens the
Independent Schools? Do IS make more sense from a business perspective than
traditional public schools?
I think schools, like organizations, will prosper if they are faced with
competitive pressures. Independent Schools are not only competing with each
other right now, but they are competing with the private sector as well as the
public sector. They are driven to maintain the quality as well as make profit,
while being closely monitored by the SEC. It’s not wrong to be profit-driven.
This is a very healthy system, I feel.
Q.
With the recent changes in the rules for operators, the profit incentive
essentially disappears. Do you think this reinforces or weakens the system?
Each approach has advantages and disadvantages and the SEC is tackling the
disadvantages of the system. I feel the measures that were taken will improve
the system.
Also, when a decision is reached, it’s reached after extensive research and
after trying and either succeeding or failing. We have to adopt change. The only
way for an organization to prosper in the 21st century is to adopt change. So
whatever changes you see us introducing in the system is something that we came
to after extensive research.
Q. Besides the increased competition, what aspects of
the reform are most important?
The aspect I feel is most important in the introduction of the Independent
Schools is the harnessing of creativity. If you go to an Independent School and
speak with the kids and see the approach of teachers, you feel that the
traditional way of sender-receiver is no longer there. There is an interaction
between students and teachers which is lovely.
Also, I think creating a results-focused culture in schools is important. We
have standardized tests and we can compare between two schools and see which one
is performing better. This is one of the aspects I’m really happy about. Another
one is accountability. An operator of a school is held accountable for whatever
happens in his domain.
Q. The Qatari education system is composed of many
different types of schools, both at a private and public level. How do you see
all of the different pieces fitting together?
Diversification is healthy. In fact, if you look at a country like Britain,
there are loads of other ways of introducing new kinds of schools. For example,
the trust system is something that can be easily adopted here in Qatar and can
prove successful.
However, the inter-dependence of all sectors cannot be ignored. For example,
once the private schools succeed and prosper, the others must follow suit.
Succeeding in one sector raises the quality of the rest, so there is
inter-dependability there. What I do feel is that maybe there’s a way to link
the system more. There could be more interchange between the different sectors.
Q. Do you think Qatari culture encourages or
discourages reform?
I think Arab culture is results-driven. The culture is helping the reform.
Parents want their kids to succeed. They’re seeing this revival in the education
sector and they will now want their kids to be part of it. Now you will find
parents going around to schools, something that we didn’t see before, checking
schools for results, for curriculum. The culture has always been for education,
but now more than ever. Parents see universities of the caliber of Carnegie
Mellon and Weill Cornell and they think, ‘How will I get my child to go to this
university?’ Maybe parents were a bit cautious when the reform started, but
right now you will see parents fighting to get their kids into Independent
Schools, which is a very healthy indicator of the success of the schools.
