Out-of-the box thinking requires a willingness to explore creative solutions to real problems. But the real challenge lies in applying these solutions with people who are not used to innovation. The effort requires maneuvering around an obstacle course, asking stakeholders to change what they do through changing how they think, and ultimately, changing who they are. This is particularly true with the public education reform undertaken by Qatar’s Supreme Education Council (SEC). “With all due respect to other reform initiatives, they are very classical because the people undertaking them are too afraid to think outside the box, just as we used to be. Their classical approach is to tread with care because they don’t want to make mistakes,” said Sheikha Aisha Bint Faleh Bin Nasser Al-Thani, SEC board and executive committee member. “We have a unique, multi-faceted and comprehensive approach that really needs empowerment introducing it to people.”

In fact, public education in Qatar is in itself “out-of-the-box”, already in flux and not content to just boast about progress but also unafraid to admit failures and mistakes in the course of what Sheikha Aisha calls “privatizing public education”.

By Staff