World Tribune.com: Rand Corp. drafts news Islamic curriculum for Qatar schools

Rand Corp. drafts news Islamic curriculum for Qatar schools

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Thursday, February 20, 2003

ABU DHABI Ñ Qatar has become the first Gulf state to revise its Islamic curriculum.

The emirate has agreed to an educational reform program drafted by the California-based Rand Corp. as part of a U.S.-sponsored drive to prevent schools in Arab and Islamic states from encouraging religious violence.

A Rand delegation began its study in October 2001 as part of a contract with the Qatari government. The project called for an overhaul of the emirate's educational system as part of a drive to improve student performance, particularly in the sciences.

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Earlier this month, Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani appointed a council on education to launch the reform program, Middle East Newsline reported. Under the decree, two agencies were established to implement the program and the crown prince was appointed to oversee the reforms.

The program called for a reduction in Islamic studies and Arabic instruction. Officials said Qatari grade school students would now be required to attend classes in Islamic studies four times a week rather than daily. The number of Islamic textbooks was reduced to one.

At the same time, Qatar has increased the amount of time required for the study of English. Officials said computer science and Internet training would also be increased.

Officials said other changes being adopted from the Rand study include greater parental input in education, greater stress on comprehension rather than memory and joint ventures with U.S. universities. In addition, such defense contractors as BAe Systems have helped support and finance new educational initiatives to promote the study of technology.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have also considered changes in their Islamic curriculum. But Qatari officials said Doha has been the first to implement reforms, including decreasing dependency on the supply of textbooks written in Saudi Arabia.

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