Aligning Post-Secondary Educational Choices to Societal Needs: A New Scholarship System for Qatar. Technical Report Summary

Autor/inn/en	Augustine, Catherine H.; Krop, Cathy
Institution	RAND-Qatar Policy Institute; RAND Education
Titel	Aligning Post-Secondary Educational Choices to Societal Needs: A New Scholarship System for Qatar. Technical Report Summary
Quelle	(2008), (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Alignment (Education); Postsecondary Education; Social Change; Needs Assessment; Scholarships; Administration; Program Implementation; Foreign Countries; Human Capital; Economic Development; Educational Policy; School Guidance; College Preparation; Incentives; Educational Change; Academic Support Services; Resource Allocation; Elementary Secondary Education; Graduate Study; Employment Opportunities + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Sozialer Wandel; Bedarfsermittlung; Scholarship; Stipendium; Verwaltung; Ausland; Humankapital; Wirtschaftsentwicklung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Anreiz; Bildungsreform; Ressourcenallokation; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Berufschance; Beschäftigungschance
Abstract	Qatar is experiencing previously unprecedented social and economic development, linked to increased participation in the global market. Growing employment opportunities for Qatari nationals require greater attention to post-secondary education and the development of specific high-demand skills. Since the 1970s, Qatar has complemented its in-country post-secondary-education options by supporting scholarship programs and study-abroad opportunities at the graduate and undergraduate levels, particularly for programs not available locally. However, the existing system was neither coherently designed nor consistently executed, resulting in few incentives for scholarship recipients to attend institutions that were appropriate for their and the country's needs. RAND was asked to provide recommendations for reforming the system to complement and promote Qatar's national K-12 reforms, utilize the expanding post-secondary options available in the country, and meet the labor-related, civic, and cultural needs generated from Qatar's economic and social development. This report summarizes the resulting evaluation of the old system and proposes reforms developed over the course of comparative assessments of countries with similar characteristics to Qatar and interviews with a varied range of stakeholders. Reported analysis findings include: (1) No single organization coordinated and administered the three main scholarship programs; (2) Policies and procedures within and across individual scholarship programs were not coherently designed or consistently executed, and systematic information was not available; (3) Prior to college, students were not receiving guidance or preparation to attend high-quality institutions; (4) The system provided few incentives to attend high-quality institutions; (5) Support services for recipients were inadequate; and (6) Choices about resource allocation and post-secondary education were impeded by a lack of data and analysis on Qatari participation in post-secondary education. RAND proposed a scholarship system centered on three programs for undergraduate and graduate study, both domestic and abroad. Receipt of a scholarship would be conditional on acceptance to an eligible post-secondary institution. All Qatari citizens of any age who have completed secondary school would be eligible to apply to these three programs. Qatari noncitizen residents would be eligible for a loan-based program. (Contains 3 footnotes and 1 figure.) [The research described in this report was prepared for the Supreme Education Council. For associated report, see ED502711.] (ERIC).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10