Qatar tops education quality in the Middle East

Qatar is number one in the Middle East and fourth among 142 countries around the world in the quality of educational system, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report released by World Economic Forum. Considering all pillars that make up the Global Competitiveness Index, Switzerland ranked first globally and Qatar was first in the Arab world and 14th among 142 countries included in the 2011-2012 report, Qatari daily (The Peninsula) reported. This rank is considered the highest Qatar has achieved "sustained by improvements in its macroeconomic environment, business sophistication, and innovation". In 2010-2011 Qatar ranked 17th, while in 2009-2010 it placed 22nd in the Global Competitiveness Index. Qatar’s educational sector has witnessed great strides in all stages, and after the complete transformation to Independent school system it has started providing education at par with international standards in a good environment which has enabled students to enrol in some of the best universities around the world. Many of the positive indicators included in the report have been achieved by the educational system of Qatar. The report is an additional basis on the road to policy and strategic planning for success in several educational aspects of the country. The report further delved into various aspects of the educational system of 142 countries and among them, Qatar ranked 12th on the quality of basic education, 4th in the quality of educational system, 13th on the quality of teaching Mathematics and Science, 7th on the quality of school administration, 7th on the availability of Internet in schools and 24th on staff training. The Supreme Education Council (SEC) has expressed pride on the encouraging results of the report and recognized the vital role of the license owners of the school on the achievements of the educational system which has raised to the level of other scientifically advanced countries. The Global Competitiveness Report’s competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the World Economic Forum by Sala-i-Martin and introduced in 2004. The GCI comprises 12 categories - the pillars of competitiveness - which together provide a comprehensive picture of a country’s competitiveness landscape. The pillars are: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.