Qatar Career Development Center Holds 2nd Edition of Career Guidance Stakeholders Platform

Qatar Career Development Center (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), is to hold its Career Guidance Stakeholders Platform 2018 on April 3, at the Qatar National Convention Centre, in partnership with the UNESCO Doha Office and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The objective of the 2018 Platform is to engage stakeholders in the process of developing a “well-integrated career guidance system in Qatar” that will help Qatari youth discover, develop and use their talents to achieve their future needs and aspirations, as well as the future needs of the country.

The theme of this year’s platform is ‘Moving operationally to strategically enhance career guidance in Qatar through cross-sectoral collaboration’. The event will address the need to strategically tackle a wide range of perceived shortcomings and obstacles related to the process of transforming Qatar’s existing career guidance system, which is at its early stages of development, into “a well-developed” system.

Mr. Abdulla Al-Mansoori, Director, QCDC, said: “The second round of the Career Guidance Stakeholders Platform comes as a commitment on the part of QCDC to deliver on the priorities stipulated by His Highness the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, related to the current Arabian Gulf situation and the future direction of the country. Key among such priorities is ‘investing in human development’ as a powerful means for building Qatar’s ‘economic independence’ and ‘protecting its national security’.

“In light of the spirit of His Highness’s speech, and for purposes of contributing to the process of human development in Qatar, career guidance stakeholders must work collectively on facing the challenges posed by today’s economy through establishing effective career guidance and counselling practices that would help Qatari youth pursue their goals and serve the State of Qatar,” Mr. Al Mansoori added.

This year’s platform will be organized on the basis of the 2016 platform’s recommendations and actions. The 2016 platform brought together more than 150 experts from various educational, labor market, career development centers, youth empowerment, and national level planning and development agencies, in addition to other institutions.

The 2018 platform hosts a series of breakout sessions focusing on the development of the basic tools needed to develop (1) national level career guidance framework, standards, and policies; (2) education and labor market information system; (3) stakeholder’s roles in, and responsibilities for, implementing Qatar’s career guidance component of the 2017-2022 Education and Training Sector Strategy; and (4) technology-driven career guidance services and resources, in addition to further development of entrepreneurship practices in Qatar.

The program also includes eight focus group meetings centered on various topics, including: how best to disseminate best practices related to the organization of a school career day, design and implementation of effective student internship program, development and implementation of post-graduation career planning programs, and maximizing the impact of career guidance programs as an essential component of national talent development programs. In addition, the program provides concurrent learning and development workshops for school principals, counselors, and students, as well as their parents. The overall purpose of such workshops is to enhance the knowledge and skills of their target audience in order help them effectively perform their respective career guidance roles.