Education Institute's Director On Operators, Textbooks and Islamic Studies
Sabah
Al-Haidoos became director of the Education
Institute in September 2004,
bringing to the Supreme Education Council nearly two decades of experience in
Qatari education. Starting her career as a mathematics teacher, Ms. Al-Haidoos
rose to become director of the Al-Bayan Education Complex, one of the country’s
finest schools. She has been recognized at home and abroad for her contributions
to education, carried out important research, and helped in designing curricula
in Qatar.
Ms. Al-Haidoos graduated from the College of Education of Qatar University in
1987 and earned a diploma in school management from James Madison University in
the United States. In this interview with “Education for a New Era” she talks
about the controversial changes to rules governing the operators, the absence of
textbooks, and the presence of Islamic studies in Independent Schools.
Q. The SEC has changed the rules concerning the
operators of Independent Schools. Could you comment on this decision?
Firstly, I would like to make clear that the new rules were never designed to
squeeze the operators, but rather to give their work legal authority. The
operators will still enjoy the four principles of reform (autonomy,
accountability, variety and choice). The decisions about these rules were not
taken randomly. They were submitted to study. This is the second year applying
the education reform initiative, and we have enough data to evaluate and rectify
achievements. These decisions are aimed at putting schools on a path that leads
to success.
Secondly, the decisions are not new. The reform was originally designed in a way
so that the operator had to direct his school. But because the Supreme Education
Council is a state institute, the schools had to be run as LLCs, in order for
school operators to be held responsible for the school if any excesses occurred.
That was the only legal mechanism available at the time, so we were forced to
follow it. However, two years on, the Supreme Education Council has decided to
go back to the main rule, since the schools are constant and permanent
establishments. Here we acquired the legal mechanisms to issue a law that gives
the operator his/her legal rights and complies, at the same time, with the
reform. That means the operator has to be someone who is able to manage the
academic and the administrative affairs through a non-profit establishment.
Q. How do all of these policy changes affect the
schools scheduled to open in the fall?
We were set to open 21 Independent Schools but, complying with this new
decision, we will only launch 13 schools. This is not a concern. The main issue
was not just to open schools. It is very important for us to have a number of
Independent Schools, but we have to be cautious in the beginning. So we evaluate
and rectify the polices, the strategies and the implementation processes.
Nothing will push us into opening a new school without being sure of its
success.
Q. Do the enrollment policies of Independent Schools
allow them to select only the top students?
The doors to education were wide open in Qatar, originally. All Qatari children
are guaranteed the right to education so it is difficult to reserve Independent
Schools only for top students. Some Independent Schools may have followed these
selection practices, but the school has to serve all students, whoever they are.
And if we go back to the principles of the reform, one of which is satisfying
every student’s needs, the student may be strong in some skills and not in
others. The school must foster his strengths and work on his weaknesses.
Q. For many people the supervisory role of
the Education Institute is not clear. How does the Institute practice its
supervisory role without undermining the independence of the schools?
Firstly, we have to explain that there is a fine line between supervision and
censorship and between encouragement and interference. We have to respect this
line because the schools are independent and have a right to be varied, within
the policies of the Supreme Education Council. They have a right to have their
special policies, educational procedures, learning practices, teaching methods
and learning resources. We don’t want to have schools that are copies of each
other.
The supervisory role of the Education Institute may not be seen by outside
people but it can be felt inside the schools. Teachers, employees, the operator
and the boards of trustees can testify to the educational boost and solutions
that we offer. The Education Institute’s supervision is not aimed at discovering
errors but at supporting schools and fostering their positive sides.
We have more than one supervisory department. The Office of Professional
Development sends professional development coordinators to Independent Schools
on regular visits, holds monthly meetings and follows professional development
plans at schools. The office has to be sure of the training quality and the
school support organizations have to send monthly reports. The Curriculum
Standards Office makes systematic visits to chosen classes to check the methods
of teaching and learning.
School
coordinators in the Independent Schools Office arrange regular visits to the
Independent Schools to follow up on how much the school has interacted with
parents and the board of trustees, besides its compliance with the education
plan and the Education Institute and employees’ contracts. The purpose of these
visits is not to intrude but to ensure that the schools are following the
Supreme Education Council’s rules and policies.
The Finance Office does the same thing. There are monthly financial reports to
be studied and school financial records are monitored. We also have the
Information Center which conducts many surveys about the number of complaints
and notifications that parents and others may raise about a school. People may
not be aware of this sort of follow-up but it exists in the schools almost
daily, through the various Education Institute offices.
In addition to all that, these schools are a social partnership and supervision
comes from many parts. We do our job but this role is not final. The school’s
performance will not be developed unless society acts in parallel with the
Education Institute’s effort. Society, represented by the boards of trustees
along with parent councils, should follow the schools and raise issues through
the Information Center or through the reports from the boards of trustees.
Q. The issue of learning sources is still a concern for
many parents. How do you answer the complaints of parents concerning the absence
of unified textbooks?
The Curriculum Standards Office gives the schools the curriculum standards plus
annual plans to assist teachers in applying these standards, as each standard
has its own learning resource which teachers can use. Also the school is
provided with daily teaching plans and a training package. These resources are
given to teachers.
As for resources, we provide both teachers and students with a list of learning
resources and students have to have at least one. But this is not meant to be
the only learning source. This system is active now in many schools but starting
next year, it will be obligatory in the rest of the Independent Schools.
The important thing is that the student does not get rid of these papers. For
these learning documents and papers, we set some rules. Schools are required to
produce these copied papers in a perfect way that is suitable for students and
parents to deal with in terms of color, quality, etc.
Q. Concerning the Islamic studies curriculum, are the
Independent Schools following the Ministry of Education’s content?
Since launching the first generation of Independent Schools in the academic year
2004/2005, the Education Institute obliged the Independent Schools to use
Ministry of Education textbooks on Islamic studies and the MoE was required to
make them available. Although some Independent Schools made efforts to diversify
their learning sources, the Education Institute took its decision to apply the
MoE’s Islamic document as a general reference for Islamic studies in all
Independent Schools. Also, we formed a committee of Islamic teaching experts to
check the Islamic education curriculum in the Independent Schools to make sure
that they teach Islamic studies according to the Ministry of Education document.
Q. Any final thoughts on the upcoming year?
During the past two years of implementing the reform, we have set a number of
policies, strategies and methods which will not compromise the independence and
diversity of the Independent Schools. On the contrary, these efforts offer the
schools a great chance to progress. We hope that the upcoming academic year will
be much easier for us, because we have faced a lot of difficulties during the
last two years. Sometimes it seemed we needed a miracle to lay the foundations
for the Independent Schools.
