Launch of “Teach for Qatar”

Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani launched yesterday Teach For Qatar (TFQ), a non-governmental organization that seeks to reinvest Qatar’s brightest graduates into the public education system. The launch was attended by senior officials, including Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, as well as teachers and students. 

The NGO attracts talented university graduates and young professionals from various backgrounds and specialisations, provides rigorous teacher training, and places them as teachers in independent schools across Qatar for a two year ‘fellowship.’ Fellows continue to receive support all throughout their full-time teaching jobs, in the form of additional training, mentorship, and regular reviews. 

In a charge to Qatar’s young leaders, H.E. Sheikha Hind said, “I call upon our youth who have benefited from the flourishing of higher education in Qatar to take advantage of this opportunity to give back to their community, and to be part of a process of change that perhaps they once dreamed of effecting when they were young students themselves.” 

The niche model has been welcomed by local independent schools, ten of whom have signed agreements with TFQ to hire teachers recruited and trained by the organisation. 

“We are proud of the growing collaboration between us and the independent schools that will be taking TFQ Fellows on board,” said Mohammed Fakhroo, Managing Director of Teach For Qatar. 

TFQ is the 32nd member of the Teach For All, a global network established in countries around the world including Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Japan. 

The organisation begins this week a recruitment drive to attract young leaders around Doha in the lead-up to the May 10 application deadline. Informational booths will be available at Hamad bin Khalifa University Student Centre and Qatar University, where interested university students and young professionals can test their knowledge of core subjects, sample the teaching experience and interact with members of Teach For Qatar, and apply for the two year fellowship. 

Upon completion of the two-year teaching placement, fellows can continue to contribute to the development of Qatar’s education system through career pathways developed by TFQ pathways alongside Qatari institutions across various sectors. 

“Our hope is that our Fellows will continue to support relevant institutions in closing the education gap by working with them to further develop school curricula, education policies and by mentoring future Teach For Qatar fellows,” Fakhroo added.