Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Academic administrators, scholars, and education experts from the Middle East met at a Georgetown-hosted conference in Doha, Qatar on April 21-22. The conference provided a forum to debate ongoing educational reforms in the region, which have evolved rapidly in recent years.

The two-day event, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, was sponsored by the Center for International and Regional Studies at SFS Qatar and Main Campus' Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

Panels discussed the history of traditional Arab educational systems as well as the role of the government in providing education. Other panels analyzed the successes and challenges of the education reforms currently being undertaken in the region.

The RAND Corporation presented findings from its 2001 report on the Qatari education system, which became the basis for the large-scale reform that resulted in independent charter schools which now serve more than 50 percent of the country's students.

Doha is home to Education City, a 2,500-acre campus funded by the Qatar Foundation. The campus includes SFS Qatar, along with four other branches of U.S.-based universities.