New Teachers... A Year of Trial
In a move aimed at reshaping the path to the teaching profession, the Ministry of Education is making professional qualification a mandatory milestone for new teachers through a comprehensive national project spanning a full academic year. The program integrates theoretical training, practical field experience, and continuous assessment to verify a teacher’s readiness and professional competence before they are promoted to the rank of teacher, thereby ensuring that entry into the profession is based on qualification and demonstrated competency rather than academic credentials alone.
Al-Rai has learned that the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Health, and Youth recently discussed the draft program for the preparation and qualification of new teachers, prepared by Minister of Education Jalal Al-Tabtabaee, in the presence of educational leaders. The ministry is now preparing to present the proposal to relevant authorities to complete necessary studies and examine the feasibility of its implementation.
The program is grounded in national values and the global InTASC standards. It runs from August to June, with 45 percent dedicated to theoretical training across three stages, each lasting four weeks and covering teaching skills, workshops, micro-teaching sessions, and periodic tests. The remaining 55 percent is allocated to field training in schools under professional and pedagogical supervision, with trainees’ performance progress documented in an electronic portfolio and evaluated using standardized models.
To pass the program, candidates must achieve a minimum score of 75 percent and commit to no serious breaches of professional duties or violations compromising student protection and school safety. The program targets graduates of faculties of education and basic education, as well as other majors required by the ministry, along with newly hired expatriate teachers and new teachers in private schools.
The project proposes appointing new teachers at the fourth grade without granting them the benefits and status accorded to teachers, clarifying that acceptance into the position does not equate to appointment as a teacher until successful completion of the program. Those who fail will be subject to an improvement and re-evaluation plan, and contracts of expatriate teachers who do not pass will not be renewed.
The project also draws on experiences from five Gulf countries: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Anticipating potential future shortages in certain rare specialties, it envisions a “fast-track” pathway that condenses theoretical training into one academic semester, in exchange for extending field training and enhancing supervision and assessment. However, there are currently no indicators suggesting a general shortage of teachers in the near future.
