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LoginPUE President to QNA: Ready to Receive 9,400 Students in New Academic Year
Doha, August 29 (QNA) - President of Pre-University Education (PUE) at Qatar Foundation (QF), Abeer Al Khalifa affirmed that PUE schools and education centers are fully ready for the 2026–2027 academic year.
She told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that preparations for the new academic year were carried out through an integrated institutional process encompassing planning, policies, educational content, and operational readiness, ensuring a smooth and effective start.
Al Khalifa noted that PUE's network of 15 schools and education centers, serve 9,434 students from 56 nationalities, including 8,735 Qatari students, which represent more than 92 percent of the total student population.
The President of PUE added that 1,197 students newly enrolled in its schools this year, including in pre-kindergarten, in Awsaj Academy's Prime Program, and in the Academic Bridge Program. Meanwhile, 833 students newly enrolled in the regular academic stages.
950 of PUE's 1,885 employees-of 70 nationalities-are teachers and learning leaders across its schools, while 1,731 of its total number of employees hold direct teaching and educational roles, she said. This diversity enriches the network and positively impacts students' educational experience.
Filling 97 percent of vacancies, around 200 teachers have been recruited before the start of the academic year, Al Khalifa added, highlighting that QF focuses on attracting the right talent rather than simply filling vacancies and making rushed appointments.
The President of PUE said that preparations for the new academic year centered around four main areas, these are: school planning, including performance assessments and targeted feedback; policy reviews and updates, including the mobile-phone-free school campus policy among others; educational content and facility development, including the inauguration of Qatar Academy Sidra's new building, and the launch of an Arabic-language assessment tool and an Islamic civilization course among others; and operational readiness.
With regard to strengthening educational and leadership capabilities, three main priorities were focused on, she said, these were: school leadership appointments and reshuffling as well as redefining roles and responsibilities; providing the teaching staff with professional development opportunities; and linking professional development to performance.
Al Khalifa highlighted in this context that an event was organized to bring together around 100 education sector leaders with the aim of aligning vision and priorities ahead of the start of the academic year.
The President of PUE noted that 950 teachers and learning leaders underwent training programs covering three main areas: the 1st being digital literacy, artificial intelligence, and assessment redesign in alignment with the 2026–2030 artificial intelligence strategy.
The 2nd focusing on research-based inclusive practices through the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the sanad inclusion framework.
The 3rd area being on strengthening Arabic-language quality and identity through new tools and programs launched this year.
Al Khalifa affirmed that Qatar Foundation's school network enjoys a high level of readiness based on clear indicators and evidence, enabling the new academic year to begin with clear priorities and defined success criteria.
PUE is also working to strengthen its institutional measurement framework through academic achievement and stakeholder perception indicators, with work underway to develop a third measure for educational outcome quality, she said. This framework enables continuous performance monitoring throughout the year, stemming from QF's conviction that readiness is an ongoing practice rather than a temporary milestone.
Success, she said, is not limited to starting the academic year but extends to having a clear vision and approved plans for the subsequent stages.
In order to ensure a balanced distribution of students and limit classroom density, Al Khalifa said that QF relies on four interconnected mechanisms, these are: a centralized admissions system managed by a single body governed by a unified admission policy and publicly stated criteria applied across the entire network; and capacity planning, setting an annual capacity limit for each school and grade level based on available space, program needs, and approved regulatory standards.
The third mechanism, she added, involves managing demand through offering diverse educational options, whereas the fourth mechanism being the continuous monitoring of classroom density and linking figures to capital planning.
These mechanisms take the form of inaugurating Qatar Academy Sidra's new building, managing waiting lists centrally as a network, offering parents' alternative options across the network based on student needs and educational paths, Al Khalifa said. Recurring capacity pressures at any particular location are addressed through space expansion or redistribution plans, rather than increasing the number of students in classrooms.
Having an integrated educational system with diverse programs and tracks makes it possible to match students with the educational paths best suited to them, rather than increasing pressure on a single school, she noted. Expanding multiple pathways through International Baccalaureate schools is one of the priorities for the current academic year. (QNA)
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