Teachers in Qatar lack proper qualifications

More than 30 per cent of schoolteachers in Qatar are not qualified to teach, a report by the Supreme Education Council (SEC) reveals. According to the study, 31 per cent of teachers here have no formal qualifications to teach. The figures 35 per cent of teachers in independent schools, 31 per cent in semi-independent schools that have now been converted into independent schools, 30 per cent in private Arab expatriate schools and 19 per cent in international schools, Qatari media reported. The survey, however, does not cover non-Arab expatriate community and embassy-run schools, the quality of whose teachers is described by knowledgeable circles as below standards with many schools tending to hire educated housewives, but who have no formal training in teaching. The study also found that the highest number of unqualified teachers — 30 per cent — is at the primary level, while 27 per cent are in preparatory level and 25 per cent in the secondary level, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Monday. At least 30 per cent of the teachers in various schools across the country were Qataris, while Arabs accounted for 53 per cent and non-Arabs for 17 per cent of the teachers. Semi-independent schools had the highest percentage of Qatari teachers at 71, followed by independent schools with 25 per cent. There were hardly any Qataris in Arab private and international schools. However, 99 per cent of teachers in Arab private schools were Arabs while they accounted for 71 per cent in independent schools, 29 per cent in international schools and 28 per cent in semi-independent schools. International schools On the other hand, 71 per cent of teachers in international schools were non-Arabs, followed by four per cent in independent schools, and one per cent in Arab private schools. The report also showed that women teachers were in a majority in school-teaching sector with 72 per cent in all schools, while males accounted for only 28 per cent. Semi-independent schools had the highest percentage of female teachers at 81, followed by international schools with 73 per cent female teachers, 70 per cent in independent schools and 51 per cent in private Arab schools. Female teachers were in greater numbers in primary school (83 per cent), while their percentage in preparatory schools was 59, and 57 per cent in secondary schools. The average age of teachers was 36.6 years in all schools, while in semi independent schools the average age was 39 years, 38.3 in private Arab schools, 37.7 years in international schools and 33.9 year in independent schools. The average age of teachers in secondary schools was 38.7 years, 37 years in preparatory schools and 35.7 in primary schools.