The Shura Council State of Qatar

The Shura Council held its regular weekly meeting on Monday at Tamim bin Hamad Hall under the chairpersonship of HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.

At the outset of the meeting, the Council hailed HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani's participation in the 32nd regular session of the Arab League Council at the summit level, which was held in Jeddah, the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last Friday, hoping that the Arab Summit contributes to strengthening joint Arab action.

On the other hand, the Council condemned the storming and vandalism by irregular armed forces to the headquarters of the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Khartoum, considering that as a criminal act that violates all diplomatic norms and contradicts moral values and principles and what unites the two countries and the two brotherly peoples.

The Council also condemned the repeated incursions by Israeli officials into the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque, and the participation of a number of Israeli parliamentarians in the flag march, stressing that the continuation of these behaviors is a violation of international laws and norms.

Afterwards, HE Secretary-General of the Shura Council Dr. Ahmed bin Nasser Al Fadhala read out the agenda of the session. The minutes of the previous session were ratified.

During the session, the Council reviewed the report made by the Cultural and Information Affairs Committee regarding the request for general discussion submitted by a number of Their Excellencies members of the Council in the first session, related to the phenomenon of Qatari teachers' unwillingness to join the teaching career.

After discussing the report's conclusion and exchanging views among Members of the Council on the reason that led to the phenomenon of reluctance and presenting opinions that contribute to finding solutions to it, the Council decided to submit a proposal to the esteemed government on the aforementioned issue.

The proposal included a number of views and suggestions that would contribute to reducing this phenomenon and contribute to finding solutions to this problem, including highlighting the importance of the teacher's role in society through various media channels and honoring him continuously in educational celebrations and events.

In addition, the proposal referred to the desire to remove the administrative and supervisory burdens from the shoulders of the teacher and to be satisfied with the teaching tasks entrusted to him, and to work on developing school leaders from principals, deputies, and coordinators in supervision and guidance skills, and to create a cooperative and effective school environment with the teaching staff.

The proposal also included a desire to consider reducing school hours, allowing the teacher to leave at the same time as the students, in addition to providing support and guidance to new teachers and addressing the challenges they face at the beginning of their work.

The proposal also referred to amending the teacher's job description by defining a career path and gradation while involving the Educational Guidance Department with the school administration in the evaluation process at a specific rate for each and not linking the teacher's performance evaluation to the professional license.

Considering the difference between working in other public sectors and working in schools, where a government employee can use his vacation balance at any time, the proposal included the desire to amend the teacher's vacations to achieve greater flexibility for them.

During its series of meetings, the Cultural and Information Affairs Committee hosted HE Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, along with a number of senior officials of the ministry to listen to their views on the phenomenon of reluctance to join the teaching career. The committee also hosted a number of retired male and female teachers to quire their views on the same topic. In addition, the council invited HE Minister of Education and Higher Education, where Their Excellencies Members of the Council listened to Her Excellency's response to their questions and the measures taken by the MOEHE to address the phenomenon of Qatari teachers' unwillingness to teach.

The session continued as the council reviewed a draft law amending some provisions of law No. 19 of 2016 on a unified system for extending insurance protection to military personnel who are citizens of the GCC working in any of the member states other than their home countries, which was referred to the council by the esteemed government.

After deliberating the aforementioned draft law and discussing its provisions, the council approved it in accordance with the amendment received from the esteemed government.

During the session, the council also reviewed the report on the participation of HE Member of Council Mohammed bin Fahad Al Musallam in a symposium on the role of parliamentary work to ensure equal diplomatic participation in disarmament initiatives, which was held through videoconferencing in December 2022.

Within reviewing the report, HE Mohammed bin Fahad Al Musallam indicated that the symposium, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in cooperation with the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament network (PNND), World Future Council (WFC) and Youth Inclusion Network (YIN), came within a series of international parliamentary events, to follow up the launch of the publication of 'Securing Our Common Future,' which is an agenda for disarmament launched by UN Secretary-General in 2018.