Doha, May 19 (QNA) - Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) Dr. Hareb Mohamed Aljabri affirmed that the new scholarship criteria represent a qualitative leap in the scholarship process, pointing out that one of the most prominent changes included in these criteria is the integration of elements of talent, inclinations, and personal abilities alongside academic achievement.

In an exclusive interview with the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Aljabri explained that the State of Qatar pays great attention to sectors that rely primarily on talent, such as sports, arts, the creative economy, and museums, which necessitated the development of scholarship standards that take into account students’ capabilities and inclinations to achieve a balance between academic qualifications and talent development.

He pointed out that the scholarship plan launched in 2024 witnessed a comprehensive study of the reality of scholarships in previous years, which mainly focused on academic achievement and was limited to three tracks: engineering, medical and health sciences, and education.

He added that with the country witnessing rapid growth in various sectors, the need arose to reformulate the scholarship program to include broader fields that meet the country’s current and future needs, creating new tracks, bringing the number to eight main tracks, in addition to a ninth track dedicated to people with disabilities, reflecting the program’s inclusiveness for all groups.

Regarding talent identification mechanisms, he explained that there is direct coordination with relevant authorities in each field. For example, in the sports sector, there is cooperation with the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), the Qatari Ministry of Sports and Youth, and sports federations, which nominate candidates according to specific criteria. Coordination also takes place with relevant bodies in the fields of creative economy, arts, and museums to discover and nominate talents, emphasizing the existence of a comprehensive system of committees and partner organizations that work together to select talents meticulously and thoughtfully, he said.

Regarding the role of these standards in bridging the gap between education outputs and labor market needs, the Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs said that the ministry is working on continuous and direct coordination with various state entities in the public and private sectors, where the needs of these entities for different specializations are received annually, including talent-based specializations, which contributes to raising the efficiency of scholarship outputs and ensuring their compatibility with labor market requirements, thus enhancing the employment opportunities of scholarship recipients immediately upon their graduation.

He explained that talent evaluation is carried out in full coordination with the relevant authorities in each scholarship program, as these entities evaluate talents according to specialized standards that ensure the selection of suitable candidates, indicating that the most prominent challenges facing the application of these standards were changing the societal perception of scholarships, as the prevailing pattern linked scholarship to academic achievement only and to a limited number of traditional specializations such as medicine and engineering.

He added that this perception still exists among some segments of society, while the reality today is witnessing a great diversity of opportunities, especially in the fields of entrepreneurship, professional sports, the arts, and other fields that can constitute a promising future for students, highlighting that the potential is available, while the real challenge lies in spreading awareness and changing these traditional concepts.

He stressed that the criteria for selecting universities based on the higher education system in the country, which has witnessed great development over the past years, as it currently includes about 27 educational institutions, including leading international universities, such as Education City, Qatar University (QU), and University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST), in addition to the various colleges.

He explained that the scholarship program's philosophy is based on achieving genuine added value, ensuring that students are not sent to universities of a lower standard than local universities, pointing out that scholarships concentrated in three main cases, which include enrollment in specializations that are not available within the country, or studying at prestigious international universities ranked among the top 20 globally, in addition to enrollment in specific programs requested by specific entities within the country, such as certain specializations related to the aviation and transportation sectors, adding that universities ranked among the top 200 globally in each specialization are also selected, taking into account international rankings to guarantee the quality of educational outcomes.

Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs expressed his optimism about the future of scholarships in the State of Qatar during the next five years, pointing to the remarkable development witnessed by the scholarship system in terms of the diversity of specializations and tracks, and the transition from only three tracks to an integrated system that includes various sectors, including the track for people with disabilities, taking into account the different categories of students in terms of academic excellence, talents, or ambitions.

He added that there is integration with other scholarship providers in the country, such as those working in the energy, aviation, and defense sectors, affirming that the State of Qatar today has an integrated scholarship system that works in harmony with the various sectors of the state, and contributes to preparing national cadres capable of supporting the comprehensive development process.

Regarding the extent to which the expansion of higher education institutions meets the aspirations of Qatari youth, he explained that the state provides a wide range of academic options that meet different inclinations and abilities, whether in engineering, medical or applied disciplines, or in military and security fields, in addition to humanities, social sciences and creative economy, as well as opportunities for overseas scholarships to the finest international universities.

Regarding the future expansion in establishing new higher education institutions, Dr. Aljabri affirmed that this is subject to precise criteria, the most prominent of which is that the institution be among the top 300 universities in the world, in addition to the actual need for the specializations it offers, especially in sectors that require strengthening, such as the health sector.

Speaking about university rankings, he explained that there is a difference between global rankings issued by well-known international institutions and national quality systems, indicating that there is no internal ranking of universities, but rather institutional quality and efficiency standards are applied starting from the licensing stage until the first batches graduate, then the institutions are subject to academic follow-up in accordance with approved national standards.

Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs concluded his interview with the QNA by emphasizing that higher education is the foundation for preparing qualified national cadres capable of meeting the requirements of the labor market, whether in terms of specializations or skills, pointing out that higher education institutions play a prominent role in serving society through research and studies that address societal challenges and contribute to finding sustainable solutions, which is an integral part of the tasks of universities and faculty members. (QNA)