Her Excellency Minister of Education and Higher Education Buthaina bint Ali Jabr Al-Nuaimi affirmed the commitment of the State of Qatar to support the least developed countries by strengthening comprehensive and effective national education systems, whether in distance classes or in direct educational sites, and improving curricula that respond to The dynamic nature of education, training and the labor market.
She stressed the importance of strengthening local contexts, including country-specific challenges, local cultural contents, capacity development of teachers, especially in rural areas, improvements in basic infrastructure, and provision of adequate supplies to suit the learning requirements of all children.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Her Excellency said that the issue of education is one of the main pillars of the country’s development programs, as education is the guarantee for building sustainable societies that are able to withstand challenges, as it contributes to increasing the productivity of individuals and promoting economic growth. It ensures the development of professional skills necessary to achieve sustainable development in various fields of life, which contributes to improving the health and living conditions of people.
She also stressed that the State of Qatar is committed, in this context, to supporting the least developed countries in increasing school enrollment rates, reducing dropout rates, providing school feeding programs that support healthy diets, water and sanitation facilities, vaccinations, various school health services, and improving the quality of education. , especially core learning competencies.
She added that Qatar is also striving to ensure access to the Internet in less developed countries, significantly increase access to electricity, provide digital literacy skills and lifelong learning systems, as well as distribute educational equipment and materials, whether in physical or digital form, with Focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable families.
She expressed the State of Qatar’s belief that education plays a fundamental role in building sustainable and resilient societies, and contributes to increasing the productivity of individuals and enhancing the potential for economic growth, in addition to developing the vocational skills necessary to achieve sustainable development in various areas of life, such as: clean energy, water, Conservation of natural resources, and it also contributes to improving the health and living conditions of people.
She said: The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which Doha will host from March 5 to 9, will be an opportunity to highlight the importance of universal access to quality and comprehensive education at all levels, to eliminate the gender gap in school enrollment and completion of education, and to enhance the quality of education. for all in least developed countries.
She noted that through the conference an increase in the number of places and scholarships available globally for students and trainees from least developed countries would be pursued, particularly in the fields of science, educational technology, business administration and economics, and full utilization of available scholarships would be encouraged. , significantly increase access to the Internet, electricity and school meals that support healthy diets, and basic services necessary to support the educational process, and conduct feasibility studies to explore the possibility of establishing a virtual university or equivalent platforms for least developed countries, with the expansion of vocational training, and good training opportunities and promoting other active labor market policies to facilitate a smooth transition from school to work for both genders, as well as urging the international community to unite efforts to get children back to school in the aftermath of COVID-19, and to ensure safe and quality education for all children.
HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education stated that the State of Qatar has undertaken many initiatives and programs that support education for children in conflict zones, including the initiative of the Education Above All Foundation, by making available its educational program in emergencies, which has supported more than 1.5 million children in Ukraine who have been forced To become refugees, the educational program produced by the Foundation was developed in Ukrainian and Russian, as part of the free electronic educational resource bank, which was awarded in the “Crisis and Conflict category by the Mobile Learning Alliance”.
She said: “In the field of protecting education, the State of Qatar is an effective and influential factor for bringing about positive transformations and creating a world where peace, prosperity and human dignity prevail, where financing education in emergencies for Qatar takes priority in development aid, which the state is keen to provide to countries, whether because of conflicts.” More than 78 countries have benefited from the initiatives of the State of Qatar, whether through the Education Above All Foundation, or with the support of the Qatar Fund for Development. The State of Qatar also submitted a draft resolution to adopt an international day to protect education from attacks, as the resolution was unanimously adopted. In May 2020, September 9 of each year has become the International Day for the Protection of Education.
Her Excellency the Minister of Education and Higher Education stressed that the State of Qatar, with the support of the international community, has a very important role in building stronger systems capable of facing challenges in the least developed countries to achieve sustainable development, and helping those countries to design resilient systems and face risks. Designing infrastructure in the fields of transportation, communications, information technology, health system and food system.
In this context, she said: The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries aims to involve all local, regional and international bodies to develop solutions that meet the needs of individuals and guarantee their rights, especially that the State of Qatar believes in equal opportunities, especially that those countries have human resources that allow them to catch up. catch up, achieve prosperity in their countries, and achieve economic growth and sustainable development.
She noted that the conference enhances the role of the State of Qatar as an active member of the international community in supporting education, and the belief that it is the main means for building and prospering societies, and achieving sustainable development.
She added, “We seek to continue efforts in urging the international community to support least developed countries in gaining access to educational tools and digital technologies, and using them effectively to improve education outcomes for all learners, with a focus on the poorest and most vulnerable households, especially for girls, and to support large-scale national efforts.” To use all forms of distance learning technology, especially low-cost technology, to support distance learning and online education.
Regarding the role of the United Nations Organization in Support of Education in the world, Her Excellency the Minister of Education and Higher Education said: His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, drew attention to the challenges that education faced against the background of the Corona pandemic, and called for serious action regarding the provision and quality of education, as he stressed In his message on the occasion of the International Day of Education, he stressed that education is one of the most important public goods, and that it is a key factor for achieving all the goals of the sustainable development plan in the least developed countries, and therefore the State of Qatar shares the vision of the United Nations General Assembly, that without ensuring quality, comprehensive and equitable education for all, and promoting Lifelong education opportunities for all Countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty, which will leave millions of children and youth behind.
She added that HE the Secretary-General of the United Nations stresses the need to protect the right to quality education for all, especially girls everywhere, to achieve sustainable development, and for schools to become safe and healthy places, where there is no place for violence or intimidation, noting that this will only happen through Through global solidarity, protection of education budgets, and increases in resources for each student to achieve better educational outcomes, which is what the United Nations Conference aspires to.
