Qatar’s future workforce requires greater numbers of professionals in rapidly growing sectors, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data science. To meet these requirements, the country seeks to make quality education accessible for all, including expatriate families, and aims to raise science-specialisation graduates to 18 percent by 2030 under the Third National Development Strategy.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) is working to establish four new STEM secondary schools next academic year as part of a drive to increase the number of graduates in science and technology disciplines and surpass the target of raising science-specialisation graduates to 18 percent by 2030.
The ministry is expanding scholarship opportunities and university placements both inside and outside Qatar to support these national priorities. The MoEHE is also aligning overseas scholarship programmes with future labour market requirements. More than 5,000 Qatari students are currently studying under government scholarship schemes at universities inside and outside the country.
New scholarship specialisations for the 2026-2027 academic year include nuclear engineering and data science, complementing existing programmes in sectors such as industry, banking, cybersecurity and energy.
The MoEHE is working to make quality education more accessible to expatriate families. The Assalam Schools initiative, established more than 15 years ago, currently operates around six schools, providing free, quality education for children from low-income resident families.
Besides, cooperation with private schools under their social responsibility programmes has been expanded. What initially began with only 50 to 100 subsidised seats have grown within months to more than 8,000 seats, offering either fully funded education or tuition discounts of up to 50 and 70 percent, depending on the families’ financial condition.
The ministry is also committed to inclusive education and as part of its efforts nearly 100 government schools are now equipped to integrate students with disabilities into mainstream classrooms.
Alongside specialised kindergartens and schools serving children with hearing, visual, autism and Down syndrome conditions, the ministry provides educational vouchers to help families meet the significantly higher costs of specialised private education.
Many students with disabilities successfully complete their education, continue to university or enter the labour market, supported by ongoing cooperation with the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau to improve their employment opportunities across government institutions.
The ministry has also invested heavily in alternative academic support through digital learning platforms, containing tens of thousands of educational videos and practice materials, alongside year-round remedial classes and intensive revision programmes during examination periods.
