Qatar Today institutes round table, a platform for deliberation

To be held every quarter, QTRT will bring together stalwarts in different fields to discuss and debate about various issues ranging across thought spectrums cutting across issues as diverse as focus on the education system in Qatar, GCC Monetary Union or branding.

This initiative is another step towards contributing to the society and increasing awareness of pertinent issues facing the nation.

The first QTRT was held on March 29, 2007 at Le Ciel, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha and deliberated on Qatar's Education System: Lopsided Focus on White Collar Jobs.

The Round Table brought together the think tanks in the education sector in the country including: Dr. Omar Alansari, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Qatar University; Dr. Harald Jorch, President, College of North Atlantic, Qatar; Dr. Maya Hammoud, Associate Dean for Admissions & Student Affairs, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; Drs. Diederik Krom, Dean CHN University, Qatar; Dr. Jame C. Holste, Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Studies, Texas A&M University, Qatar; Maria Elkaer-Hansen, Human Resources Director, The Ritz-Carlton Doha.

The session was moderated by Samson Samasoni, a Qatar-based Communications Consultant.

Dr Jorch said, "Any education system operates on the triumvirate of BIG - Business, Industry and Government, since business and industry take in the students that the education system churns out and this is directly related to the government seal which is the accreditation. In Qatar, we give a menu or programme guide to students to choose from. This guide is arrived at by looking at the needs of the various sectors of the economy. The ideal is to generate students who hit the ground running."

Dr Maya Hammoud said, "Education in Qatar is going in the right direction, though there are challenges that need to be addressed. For instance, being an Arabic country, we at Weill Cornell are working with local schools to up the language skills of the students. With interactions with Hamad Hospital, we have come to devise programmes that address local needs. In the research domain too, we are trying to update information which will help integrate the nation at an international level."

Dr Jame Holste mentioned, "A modern technical society is dependent on the white collar workers as well as the technicians and operators. Thus, there needs to be an operational balance between both of these to ensure smooth operation for society as a whole."

Dr Alansari emphatically said, "We need to see the difference between getting job by dint of competence which may or may not be reflected by the degree at hand. The degree that one earns should not be a short cut to landing up a job... Earlier on, say 10 years back, there was no concept of interviews. If one had a degree, one just got the job, though things are changing now."

Dr Krom stressed the need to devise a Qatari education system, which would adhere to the international benchmarks. "Why should I send my children to a British or American school while staying in an Arabic country?" he asked.

Maria Elkaer, Director of Human Resources, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha, stressed on the need to promote both white collar and operational positions: "This is even more critical for the hospitality industry as it is not only difficult to attract young graduates but even tougher to retain them as the service industry don't appeal to them and suffer from a lack of consideration on which we need to work on at the university level."

Samson Samasoni guided the pace of the underlined the need for a more structured vocational training strategy.

All the speakers were unanimous on one thing - the bias towards white-collar jobs was something that was universal and applicable to most nations. The speakers also expressed the view that the direction that the education system in Qatar is taking reflects the vision that the leaders of the country have in shaping future of the country.