Over 344,000 students return to schools today

Qatar school students

Over 344,000 students in public and private schools and kindergartens will go back to schools today with 100 percent capacity following in-person attendance system.  As many as 129,000 students in government schools and 215,000 students in the private schools are enrolled in this academic year.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) recently adopted in-person attendance system for all students in all public and private schools and kindergartens with 100 percent capacity, starting today (January 30, 2022).

Director of Schools Affairs at the Ministry, Ali Jassim Al Kuwari, told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that all government schools and kindergartens are fully prepared to receive their students, following all preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring a safe learning environment for students, teachers and administrators are ensured.

He said that the decision of the Ministry about children’s return to school with physical attendance system was welcomed by parents and guardians greatly.

Al Kuwari said that parents cooperated with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education as they visited schools from Thursday to Saturday to receive antigen testing devices for students of government schools provided for them by the Ministry.

He said that everyone from officials, school staff, teachers and parents understood the students’ enthusiasm to return to the study following in-person attendance system. Al Kuwari urged people to provide the appropriate school environment for students and all the requirements of the educational process in a healthy and safe environment.

In addition, the management of private schools and kindergartens notified parents via text messages of all matters related to attendance and also ensured to educate them and their children to conduct antigen test at home and adhere to precautionary and preventive measures to preserve public health.

Director of the Private Schools Affairs Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Rashid Ahmed Al Ameri, said that more than 215,000 students in 334 private schools and kindergartens will return to school to receive their education in classrooms. He lauded schools and kindergartens for being flexible in various scenarios of return to study according to the situation of COVID-19 pandemic.  Al Ameri said that inspection visits will be made during the coming period, with students returning 100 percent to school capacity. 

He said that it is the responsibility of schools and kindergartens to implement all precautionary and preventive measures to curb the pandemic in accordance with the directives of the Ministries of Public Health (MoPH) and Education and Higher Education.