Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) has enrolled 128 students in ‘3-year-old’ level of public kindergartens (KGs) for the academic year 2023-24.
A pilot project to add ‘3-year-old’ level in four public kindergartens (KGs) started in August 2023 for caring children from three years old and preparing them to engage in the educational system.
The Ministry is currently working on following up and evaluating the experiment in preparation for expanding this stage in the future to include all government kindergartens.
Director of the Early Education Department Dhabya Al Khulaifi at MoEHE, in a video on X platform, said: “The Ministry recognises the importance of the pre-kindergarten stage at the age of 3 years to provide opportunities for children to obtain quality educational care through specialiSed programmes and facilities.”
She said that the students are provided with a safe and supportive environment, where they learn and develop in innovative and exciting ways.
“We believe that the future of children begins from childhood, and we must guarantee our children the best opportunity to grow and develop. Let us work together to provide them with innovative opportunities and care,” said Al Khulaifi.
Deputy Director for Al Khawarizmi Kindergarten, one of the kindergartens which added ‘3-year-old’ level, Badriya Al Qahtani said: “The pre-kindergarten stage is an important stage in preparing children for kindergarten. Through this stage, they are taught life skills, how to deal with their peers in class, and how to deal with strangers.”
A parent who admitted her child in ‘3-year-old’ level said: “During this period, which has become approximately a month, I felt a big difference in my children in speaking and dealing with us and the rest of the children.”
She said that her child started performing small tasks on his own, relying on himself, and speaking complete sentences adding that “these things are very important for us as parents”.
The project is in line with the efforts by the Ministry to invest in the early childhood stage, and in accordance with the best practices of the global and most successful educational systems.
Early childhood education helps provide strong foundations to children for building their personalities and capabilities to serve the community. The involvement of children in the early education stage increases their motivation to learn. The project was implemented as an experiment in kindergartens which are operating in densely populated areas.
The four kindergartens which added the ‘3-year-old’ level are two kindergartens for boys - Abu Hanifa Kindergarten in Doha Municipality and Al Manar Kindergarten in Al Rayyan Municipality, in addition to two kindergartens for girls - Al-Khwarizmi Kindergarten in Umm Salal Municipality and Rawdat Zekreet in Al Daayen Municipality.
