The State of Qatar initiated the development of the country's public education in the year 2004 following the motto "Education for a New Era". The aim was to provide the children of Qatar with improved methods of education.
In Qatar, all Independent state schools provide free education to Qatari Citizens. Most expats attend private International schools in Qatar which follow American (primary, middle school, AP), International Baccalaureate or British curricula. On the other hand, latest government reforms have changed the official teaching language in independent schools from English to Arabic. Throughout history, Qatar’s education was mainly centered on Islamic studies.
In 1973, the first government university (Qatar University) was founded by launching the Faculty of Education. Today, it comprises of eight colleges; College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics, College of Education, College of Engineering, College of Health Sciences, College of Law, College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies. Qatar Foundation, a private non-profit organization, was founded in 1995. Qatar Foundation built Education City, where numeral foreign institutions agreed to set up their campuses, offering international undergraduate and graduate educational programs within the country. Education City hosts branch campuses offering certain programs for the following universities:
- Virginia Commonwealth University (Art and Design programs)
- Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (Pre-medical and Medical programs)
- Texas A&M University (Engineering programs)
- Carnegie Mellon University (Business and Computer Science programs)
- Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (Foreign Service programs)
- Northwestern University (Journalism and Communication programs)
Qatar continues to develop education in the country as part of its 2030 vision “To build a modern world-class educational system that provides students with the best education in the GCC”.
