Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

Xianelle's move to the QA was something that we hoped for and something that also entailed a lot of adjustments from us even before the school year started.  First, we had to move to a new place, somewhere closer to the school.  We decided to move to Al Sadd which is halfway closer to the school and Tian's place of work.  It is much closer than our place at the Old Airport Area. Then, I had to resign from work since nobody is going to drive Xianelle to school.  Another big reason for my resignation was our plans to have another baby though sadly it hasn't happened yet.  However, we do have high hopes that we've made the best decision for our daughter.

It is very early to tell whether we did but judging from the way we see the school, the facilities, the friendly staff, we feel that we're on the right path. 

Xianelle is now officially a member of one of the Grade one classes. For the first time she has a male teacher.  She has made a few friends and she loves that she has a girl classmate who's also a Filipino though we always stress to her that she can make friends with anyone, no matter where they come from.  She always has stories about the things they do in school.  Xianelle is very happy that they get to play in the playground during the break.  Today she woke up very happy because it is 'library day' and she's so excited to be in their library which by the way is very nice.  So far we are very pleased.

The only thing that's driving me nuts it having to drive a lot again.  But I guess that's just how it is.  We want good things for our family, especially our children then we've got to give something in return.  I guess it's ok to be doing this as long as my daughter gets the best education that we can ever provide.  After all, most of the things that we do are for our children's future.

Continue reading "New School, New Beginning"

Comments (0)

Click on the image to view all thr pages of Xiane's Report Card for Year 2009

Great work Xianelle! So proud of you! Keep it up!

Continue reading "Xianelle's Report Card 2009"

Comments (0)

Schools are asking for another hike! It seems that Qatar, instead of providing cheap yet having a high standard of education, is falling to the loop of increasing tuition every year. Not only that, schools right now are already asking for advance payment of tuition almost 4-5 months before the school year even starts. For those who are already enrolled in schools, payment must be done at least a month before the current semester ends or they would loose a place for next years' school year. It is only in Qatar where I've seen this. And to think that there is an abundance of enrollees every year and places for schools is almost close to rare, why would they require parents to pay tuition several months before the actual year starts? Don't they have enough funds to pay for what ever they need to pay?

Although these are private schools, the Government should have a hand in regulating these schools. With the new hike request, do you think the actual amount goes back to the children's eduation through better facilities, newer books, better equipments, etc? I'm not so sure. They are saying that the hike in needed due to "a rise in operational costs due to the inflation in the country". So does that mean that all the parents were given salary hikes by their employers because of the inflation? If that's not the case, then the Governement should also impose on yearly pay hikes for parents who send their kids to school to balance everything out. Otherwise, education becomes a burden for families with already low income.

Just to give you a sample of how much one has to pay for education in Qatar (aside from entrace fees, resources fees, registration fees, etc):

Doha Montessori and British School
Preschool -QR 17400/ Year
Reception to Year 10 - QR 25500/year to QR 37500/year

Philippine School Doha
Pre- Elementary to  High School -QR4430++/year to QR6190++/year

American School Doha
(Capital Fees - 10,950 -14,600)
Pre Kindergarten - QR26,880/year
Kindergarten to Year 1 to 5 - 44,8323/year
Year 6-12 - QR 58,300/Year
Preschool -QR 17400/ Year
Reception to Year 10 - QR 25500/year to QR 37500/year

Doha Modern Indian School
Kindergarten 1 and 2- QR7300/year
Grade 1 to 4 - QR8965/year
Grade 5 to 12 - Qr 10,265 to 14,274/year

Continue reading "Schools seek Ministry permission for fee hike"

Comments (0)

UPDATE: The school is located near the Aspire Zone, behind the Turkish Boys School.  Call 4981155 or visit www.eliteintschool.com for more information.

ELITE International School, a new institution that follows an educational programme based on the American curriculum, will begin its maiden academic session in Qatar on September 6, school officials said yesterday.

Located in Al Aziziya, the school will receive admission applications today. It is open to students from age three to 10 years from kindergarten to grade six.

The school boasts of a computer centre, a library, a laboratory and sport facilities.
“The school’s buildings are ready for occupation and infrastructure is in place. We have hired teachers, librarian, a nurse and our managing director and her deputies are all ready to begin work. All that is left is to register children before the commencement of classes in September,” the facilities co-ordinator Aliaa Shatri said during a press conference yesterday.

“Our mission at EIS is to prepare students to become productive and successful citizens,” management team member James Gibbs said.

He said classes offered will include Arabic, English, mathematics, science, religion, computers, humanities and social studies according to the policies and regulations of Qatar and the standards of the American-based curriculum.

“Our school also offers an international focus that helps prepare students for the CITA examinations and we also provide classes in religion and classical Arabic for native speakers based on Qatar educational standards,” he added.

Another member of the senior management team Anna Lytkina emphasised that the school will not deny any child admission based on any form of disability.

“All students deserve equal opportunity to succeed and this means that not only the different learning abilities of our students will be taken into account, but also we will always be ready to provide all necessary facilities for students with medical problems,” she said.

For the designing of its curriculum and textbooks, the school’s management has chosen a century-old publishing firm called Harcourt Publisher, which will be introducing a tailor-made international global version of American curricula to meet local Qatari educational standards while preserving its international approach.

Members of the school’s board are chairman Abdullah bin Saad al-Mahmoud, vice-chairman Khalifa bin Abdullah bin Saad al-Mahmoud and managing director is Fatma al-Hussaini.

Continue reading "ELITE International School in Doha, Qatar"

Comments (5)

This was the song that my daughter’s class did for their production in school.  Doha Montessori and British School just had its Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2) production.  There were 3 classes for each year and each class had their own theme.  For Xianelle’s class it was the Underwater theme.  They had to sing and dance to the tune of “Underwater” and “Octopus’s Garden”.

After weeks and weeks of rehearsals, they were finally put to the test.  The production went on for 4 showings, 1 for each day starting on Sunday, the 5th of April.  Xianelle missed one production day as she got sick.  Thankfully she got better right away and was able to join her class on Wednesday, the last day of production.  Fortunately, I was also able to watch her perform.  Her poor dad however missed her performance as he had couldn’t leave work.  I just took a video of her which we watched at home that day. 

The children wore a uniform blue plain shirt and black pants.  Then a nicely-drawn picture of a sea creature (octopus, seahorse, starfish, stingray, lobster, jelly fish) hanging around their necks over their bodies.  Then they wore a band on their head that had a fish on it.  Voila! That completes their look.

It was very exciting to see the children perform, seeing my daughter especially.  It was a bit nerve-racking thinking that she might make a mistake with her dance steps.   But taking a video and photos of her at the same time made it very easy for me to forget about being anxious.  After their number my arms were cramping so bad but I was happy. 
Congratulations Xiane and classmates for a job well done!  Who knows someday, one of you guys will be in the West End or Broadway; perhaps one of you will get an Olivier or Tony perhaps.  Maybe someday…  

Continue reading "Underwater, Deep Down, Deep Down"

Comments (3)