History of Educational Reform in Qatar: A Study of Shifting Ideologies, Social Debates, and Government Visions

Education in the modern world is considered to be a tool of development in all aspects of life, including the social, economic and political dimensions. The government has recognized the importance of education in Qatar since the 1950s. Successive governments have since then focused on developing the educational system. This thesis traces the history of education in Qatar since its establishment back in 1954. It focuses on the ideological, political, and social elements that affected educational reform. The research is chronologically divided into three stages: the early institutionalization of formal education (early 1950s-1970), the consolidation of education in the newly independent modern state (1971-1995), and the more recent, Western-inspired modernizing reforms (1995-2013). The study discusses how educational development interacts with politics, economy, and society in the three stages.