Doha, January 17 (QNA) - Organized by the Qatar Career Development Centre (QCDC), member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the events of Career Guidance Stakeholders 2022 will kick off on Tuesday online, under the title 'Accelerating Human Capital Development through career Guidance under the QNV 2030', in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Project Office for Qatar.
This year, the events will focus on strategic and tactical issues related to professional development in the State of Qatar, with the participation of representatives from the main concerned ministries and institutions operating in the public, private and mixed sectors, to discuss these issues as active participants. The events will also review the latest international research, evidence-based solutions, and mutual engagement of needs, concerns, and actions.
In exclusive statements on this occasion, Director of Qatar career Development Center (QCDC) Abdullah Al Mansoori explained to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the Career Guidance Stakeholders is an event held every two years that brings together policy and decision makers, experts, academics, professionals, researchers and others to discuss and explore various issues related to career guidance and development, and to suggest the best ways to support building an appropriate and integrated environment for career guidance in the State of Qatar.
He pointed out that selecting the topic of 'Accelerating Human Capital Development through career Guidance under the QNV 2030' for the title comes to support the state's efforts in developing human capital in line with government strategies and citizens' aspirations, and as a contribution from the center to achieve the maximum impact of professional guidance, and to assist the concerned authorities and parties in responding to current and future challenges. It also aims to enhance the ability to achieve sustainable development related to economic, social, human and environmental aspects by 2030, through the value added of guidance and professional development at the strategic and tactical levels, he added.
This year's edition aims to view the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the previous meeting, and propose action steps to achieve them in the next five years, leading to maximizing the role of career guidance in achieving the goals of the human development pillar in Qatar National Vision 2030, as well as continuing hard work on practical and strategic issues related to setting policies and strategies for career guidance and enhance its services provided through multiple means and platforms, locally and abroad, he noted. It also aims to facilitate the transition of persons with disabilities from secondary education to working life, through a structured framework for occupational management skills that supports inclusive employment and their seamless integration within the social fabric, and collect data on future requirements to support the transition of the workforce within the labor market, hone their skills, and raise their efficiency effectively, he added.
Al Mansoori added that the 2022 edition will address strategic and tactical issues by focusing on seven main axes, which are: national career guidance policies and strategies, the provision of career guidance services across multiple means and platforms, the transition of persons with disabilities from middle and secondary schools to higher education and the labor market, in addition to career guidance for pre-university students, enhancing employability skills of higher education graduates, humanpower mobility within the labor market, enhancing their skills, and benefiting from labor market information.
He noted that the discussion groups that will be held during the event will include a dialogue session under the title of 'Accelerating Human Capital Development in the State of Qatar', with the participation of representatives from the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, QatarEnergy and Qatar Foundation, while the other discussion groups will focus on various issues included in the seven main axes.

In his exclusive statements to QNA, Director of QCDC Abdullah Al Mansoori referred to the center's role in supporting national career guidance policies and strategies, occupying a distinguished regional and global position in the field of career guidance, and establishing a national platform that brings together the various authorities concerned with career guidance in the country to discuss and support career guidance issues in Qatar and the region. He expressed pride in the center's contributions to drawing attention to the career guidance capabilities available in the country and playing his role as an advisory for career guidance policymakers in the State of Qatar.
He drew attention to the center's work according to specific goals, including developing applicable national mechanisms, supporting career guidance as a powerful means to achieve success for Qatari youth in particular, and Qatari society in general, enabling citizens to benefit from and investing in existing opportunities, and increasing professional readiness for the available and diverse paths.
Al Mansoori reviewed a number of achievements made by the center since its establishment and its distinctive fingerprints in guidance, planning and professional development, including the launch of the "Career Readiness Program," the preparation of "Virtual Career Advising Sessions," the "Little Employee" program, the "Meshkat" program, the annual professional advisors training program, and the issuance of a magazine "Career Guide" and "Electronic Career Guidance Resources." He pointed out that the recommendations resulting from each meeting need to be implemented in multiple stages and joint cooperation between more than one party, so the concerned authorities are involved in the meetings to explore opportunities and cooperate to address challenges and create an integrated and coherent local environment for professional guidance.
For her part, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) Fawzia Abdulaziz Al Khater considered the ministry a main partner in the "Career Guidance Stakeholders 2022", as it provides all the necessary facilities that would support students' aspirations and link them to the current and future needs of the labor market, pointing to the great cooperation between the ministry and QCDC in linking the academic curriculum, career guidance, capacity building and empowering young people according to their interests and abilities, in order to help them choose educational paths and academic and professional specializations that suit them.
In an exclusive statement to QNA, Al Khater expressed her hope that this meeting would contribute to strengthening cooperation between all partners in a way that meets the aspirations of citizens, especially young people, in line with the needs of the state, in addition to contributing to the development of professional development policies and strategies in line with the needs of the labor market. She noted that the ministry takes advantage of other partners such as the Ministry of Labor (MOL) for the current and future needs of the state, which contributes to providing scholarship programs related to these specializations for students in the twelfth grade by providing them with the opportunity to join distinguished academic specializations in reputable universities in Qatar and abroad.
She added that the ministry, in cooperation with the center, implemented the electronic career planning system, which helps students discover their abilities and tendencies, and more than 10,000 secondary school students have benefited from this cooperation, in addition to cooperation in developing the skills and capabilities of academic advisors in schools and qualifying them to be able to perform their role to the fullest. In turn, she pointed out that MOEHE launched an initiative for academic and career guidance in preparatory schools, which was implemented this year in ten schools, benefiting more than 6,000 students, and to be applied to all preparatory schools in the future. She emphasized that applying the career guidance process at an early stage makes students ready to choose appropriate educational paths and future academic and professional disciplines that meet their aspirations in line with the needs of the labor market.
The Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at MOEHE said, "Despite the excellent efforts being made to bridge the gap between the outputs of higher education and the labor market, there is still a need to enhance the role of career guidance to obtain better results, and there is no doubt that this requires more cooperation and partnerships." "We need a study in which all concerned parties, such as the Ministry of Labor, cooperate to know more accurately the needs of the labor market in the State of Qatar during at least ten future years. This would contribute to achieving greater consensus to build educational inputs based on those needs, which contributes to in achieving higher education outcomes that meet the future needs of the labor market," she added. (QNA)