16-3-2017
Under the patronage of H E Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahid Al Hammadi, Minister of Education & Higher Education, the first Education Exchange (EDEX) Conference will take place on May 9 – 10 at the Westin Doha Hotel and Spa.
The conference will be organised by EdEX Qatar in partnership with the Ministry of Education & Higher Education and Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry (QC).
QC’s support for this conference comes as part of its commitment to encourage the private sector’s educational activities, and this event will bring the latest innovative solutions that make education in Qatar more competitive, said Mohammed Ahmed Al Obaidali, a QC member of the Board.
Issues related to curriculum, skills, employment, occupational efficiency, science and technology, business and digital skills will be discussed during the conference and support the state efforts towards knowledge economy, Al Obaidali noted.
Al Obaidali said during a press conference held at the QC on Thursday to announce the date and logo of the conference that the State of Qatar pays much attention to the education and that is why is has allocated QR20.6bn for education in its 2017 budget, which is 10.4 % of the total budget of 2017. The QC has established an education committee to encourage the private sector investment in education sector, he added.
Obaidali noted that QC places great importance to education and believes that this event will attract leading international companies and investment from the private sector.
Hassan Al Mohammadi, Director of Public Relations at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, said the ministry in partnership with the Qatar Chamber hopes to drive investment across all levels of education in Qatar – from nursery up to higher education and vocational education and onward to technology, online, distance and blended learning models.
The Ministry has a policy not to limit the private sector investment in basic education and it has a plan of encouraging the private sector to open new universities, Al Mohammadi told The Peninsula when asked why the private sector investment is limited to basic education levels.
“Qatar is one of the Gulf region’s fastest growing education sectors with the construction of up to 12 new schools each year by 2022, each with a capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 students per school,” said Ryan O’Donnell, Event Director for EdEx Qatar and education, investment and technology event, organised by Informa Tharawat company.
O’Donnell added that “funding allocations for the education sector in Qatar have increased from $6.7bn in 2013-2014 to a record total of $7.2bn in 2015 and the Qatari Government continues to place the improvement of the national education system at the top of its agenda”.
The conference aims to equip education leaders in Qatar with strategies and solutions they need to make education system in Qatar compete in a global knowledge economy, O’Donnell said, adding bringing education leaders and investors and regulating bodies together will help overcome the challenges they face by uniting the entire education market.
By combining cutting-edge content with tailored engagement programmes, attendees benefit from on-point programmes that provide the content and information required to expand businesses, as well as a vibrant collaboration space and a dedicated meeting service to cement new business relationships.
The event combines an exhibition with seminar streams focussing on EdTech, K-12 and Higher Education and a full 2-day Education Investment Conference where attendees will gain cutting edge insight, fresh ideas and bold strategies from regional and international leaders.
Additionally, conference delegates will also learn how to attract investment, structure deals, identify opportunities, develop scale and expand their businesses with expert advice from veterans of the private and PPP education markets globally.
