Education Services in Qatar

With the Qatari state keen on advancing educational standards for the populace, quite a few recent school buildings have been erected. There are 567 schools in Qatar, whether public, state operated schools or privately run international schools. The public schools are normally open to children from Arab families in Qatar, but not generally the foreign born working population who send their children to the international schools. The Qatari government provides free public education to all of its citizens from kindergarten to high school. There are also several universities now located in Qatar. A number of American Universities have even set up branches in Qatar's Education City, including VCU and Georgetown University. In 2002, the emir of Qatar established the Supreme Education Council which shares control over all education in Qatar with the Ministry of Education. The emir's wife is an active member of the Council. International schools in Qatar usually teach courses in the English language. There are international schools that teach expat children from specific countries in their own language, such as France, Pakistan, India, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Philippines, and others. There is both kindergarten and pre- kindergarten for children who aged 3 through 6 years old, primary school, and high school.