(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
The results of the analytical report on the development of the economic role of the education sector prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce showed the growing role of the education sector in the national economy.
The report pointed out that the remarkable economic growth witnessed by the Qatari economy in recent years and the accompanying increase in the population has necessitated an increase in the absorptive capacity of the education sector in order to meet the growing demand for educational services.
The report released Tuesday by the ministry explained that the response of the education sector to these growing requirements was supported by national trends to support this sector, stimulate investment and improve its output, guided by Qatar National Vision 2030.
The ministry stressed the importance of the role played by the education sector in the economic development process, especially its contribution to the growth of the added value of the national economy, and to provide the labor market with the qualified manpower that will improve the productivity of the national economy and enhance its future growth.
The report comes within the framework of the efforts of the of economy and commerce to enhance the efficiency of the economic sectors and increase their competitiveness by analyzing the performance of the productive and service sectors as well as identifying the promising sectors in light of a range of local, regional and global considerations and determining the nature of policies and procedures necessary to support these activities and enhance their growth opportunities.
The report emphasized that school education, which is the cornerstone of this sector, witnessed between the years 2014 and 2016 the adding of 38 new schools, an increase of 4.2 percent, where kindergarten schools alone accounted for about 42.6 percent of the total number of schools in 2016, compared to by 42 percent of schools in 2014, followed by primary schools by 26.7 percent, while the share of middle and high schools was about 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Share of different sectors in Qatar's GDP
According to the report, this development is intended to accommodate the growing number of students who have grown from 268,000 in 2014 to 289,000 in 2016, a growth of 7.5 percent. A large part of the students was received in private schools, which received 62.6 percent of the total number of new students at different levels of education. This confirms the growing role of the private sector in this sector and the improvement in the attractive investment environment.
The report also pointed out that the number of students in universities in Qatar increased from 15,300 in 2010 to 28,700 in 2016, an increase of about 88 percent, a rise of 2 percent from 2015. Government universities absorbed the bulk of this increase by 94% of the net number of new students, a rise of 3.7 percent over the year 2015.
Based on these developments, the nominal output of the education sector of its various components increased by an average of 11.3 percent annually over the past six years (2011-2016). This rate exceeded the growth of the nominal output of the economy, which led to an increase in its contribution to nominal output to about 2.1 percent in 2016 compared to 1.8 percent in 2015.
In addition, the real output of this sector grew at a relatively high rate of about 9.3 percent on average annually, more than double the average growth rate of the economy as a whole, increasing its contribution from about 1.3 percent in 2015 to about 1.4 percent in 2016.
The report pointed out that the growing role of the education sector is reflected through its contribution to employment, as the total number of workers in this sector increased from 26,900 in 2011 to about 47000 workers in 2016, an increase of 75 percent. This rate is significantly higher than the growth of a total number of employees in Qatar, which increased by 53.9 percent during the same period, increasing its contribution to the total workforce from 2.1 percent in 2011 to about 2.3 percent in 2016.
The ministry of economy and commerce stressed the promising prospects offered by the school and university education sector and called for boosting investment in this sector. The school sector is expected to witness a growing demand for its services over the next five years, as well as the university sector, which relies heavily on it the improvement of the productivity and efficiency of the workforce in the future and also contribute to support Qatar's service exports.
The ministry of economy and commerce in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, launched at the beginning of 2017, the schools project as an investment opportunity to develop and operate private schools to stimulate the participation of the private sector and encourage investment in the education sector, whereas 11 new schools with a capacity of 11,000 seats (1,000 seats/school) have been established. This huge project will have a positive impact on the education sector through improving the infrastructure and supporting the quality of training and education. This is in addition to the development and recruitment of a highly efficient workforce, with the absorption of students coming to Qatar in the coming years, as well as the provision of diversity in the curricula and methods of education through the opening of various schools.
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