Private Schools in Qatar

The private education sector in the State of Qatar comprises a huge selection of schools from kindergarten to Grade 12 with different languages and curricula. This diversity allows children to learn their own languages and cultures, as well as identifying the rest of the world cultures. 

The number of private schools in Qatar exceeds 332 schools, which are open to more than 211,000 students, and these schools are licensed by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to offer a wide variety of curricula and activities that meet the needs of individual students and their families.

You can search for any private school in Qatar on MOEHE website.

The Ministry requires all private schools to teach in their curricula Arabic language, Islamic studies, and Qatari history.
There are international schools such as the American, British, French, and German schools; community schools serving different nationalities.

State of Qatar offers funding in the form of educational vouchers to Qatari students who attend private schools in Qatar.

Tuition and Curriculum
Private schools operate either as commercial establishments or non-profit community schools sponsored by their embassies. Tuition fees may vary significantly from school to school. Schools are free to set their own curricula. Many foreign schools base their curricula on the standards of their home countries. However, all schools are required to meet the standards of the Qatar National School Accreditation (QNSA) system supervised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE).

Qatar National School Accreditation
The State of Qatar launched the Qatar National Schools Accreditation (QNSA) for private schools in 2011 as an initiative to ensure that all programs offered by private schools are up to international standards in terms of performance and quality. The accreditation system provides quality assessments on schools based on their academic, educational and administrative performances.

The accreditation system's philosophy is built on the fact that school should ensure:

• Meeting the educational needs of children through optimal learning experiences.
• Preparing students for higher education opportunities in Qatar and abroad.
• Fostering a generation of world leaders.

The practical assessment aspect of QNSA involves two parts:

• Self-study review (by school).
• School visit (by MOEHE evaluators).

Under the system, all schools are required to implement quality assurance and conduct internal and external reviews. This is because internal review is completed by conducting self-examination reflecting a school's performance in line with QNSA standards through indicators that help a school in identifying its strengths and areas that need improvement and development. 

As regards external review, this is conducted by a team of evaluators visiting a school to approve the quality of a school's internal review. Five areas of QNSA are manifested as below:

• Management and educational leadership.
• Improving and developing the performance of learners.
• Educational performance and learning environment.
• Management resources.
• Community's engagement. 

Once the evaluation process is completed, QNSA team will visit a school. If approved, the team will submit a recommendation granting this school an accreditation for upcoming three or five years, as a recommendation requires.  

Parents who are expatriates should take into account the possibility of the equivalency of curricula when they return home or move to a new country.