What will Gulf Countries do when oil runs out'?

The indians help!

indians help!!! mir83, what are u trying to say? please make sense...

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When the oil runs out, the camels, donkeys and horses will come out of their hiding and will be back in action. At that time people will stop buying Land Cruisers and buy Camel Cruisers.
The Government has to plan the creation of caves bcoz when the oil runs out there will no electricity and people would be forced to live in the caves. Reminds me of "The Cave Man".
Qatar Airways would probably become Qatar Camel Ride and its slogan shall be we take you through the deserts and the seas. We show you live action and make you part of the action.

But one thing is for sure that the roads would be much safer when the camels are back.

Frog, if in Rome I will do what romans do. Since I am an expat here I will behave like one as I am not entitled to participate in any of the government policy. Still, I believe the rulers do employ (and pay)certain highly qualified economist for improving their country and future advancement.

Frog, in my country I select the ruler. So it may be different. Still, in my country also I might not participate directly in major fiscal decisions. Infact, I pay the bank and its team to make an investment portfolio for 'my' money I invest in 'my' country. Ofcourse I welcome all ideas for this country's progress after the oil finishes. Do you have any ?

I'm afraid I haven't read the article (am trying to get some food going) but the way I understood things I thought Doha was a big building site for, amongst other reasons, to build the place up for the future as a Centre for Finance and to attract the business community as well as, maybe, tourism through Golf Courses etc and, of course, a place to hold the next Olympics which would attract lots of interest and money!

But mostly I understood they hope to become the centre for finance in these parts.

Frog, in my humble opinion the progress of any nation depends upon the transparency in the system amongst most of the things. Let us see that happening and things will change for good.

than they had before all this nonsense began! lol

But will put my thinking cap on ....

I remember one person who's always mentioning Iraq, everyday!!
...don't want to be in Iraq.

我听见 我忘记; 我看见 我记住; 我做 我了解。

You can't understand until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

Well if their natural gas or oil will run out they still have gold and pearls here, I heard that there are a lot of gold mines and pearls here in Qatar..

我听见 我忘记; 我看见 我记住; 我做 我了解。

You can't understand until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

I am not sure on this Frog. One of my uneducated aunt employs many 'brains' to work for her business. And I heard, Bill Gates is a college drop out. Not starting an argument here just as another opinion.

Mom_me,

I guess you stopped sending your 3 years old kid to school? if not then it would be unfair to ask others to stop educating their children. right ?
Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

I heard from my colleagues and have read in Marhaba and Qatar Airways magazine

我听见 我忘记; 我看见 我记住; 我做 我了解。

You can't understand until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

No Frog. I don't mean one should stop education. But education in itself will progress a country as you feel may not be true. I do not know how much education His Excellency Shk. Mohd. of Dubai has but I am truly impressed by his vision and his being technology savvy. So again I reitariate my stance about transparency etc.

Arabs have always been credited with good business acumen even when there was no oil.

Dubai is trying to turn itself into a tourist meca in their plan to survive the end of the oil. If the seas rise then Doha will be underwater, you could turn that into a tourist attraction.
Qatar has only been an oil state for less than what 30 years, and already I think they who have trouble going back to life without constant air-con
Personally I think this planet can only support less than half of the number of people currently on it

Did not include any African nations except for Tunisia and only one other Arab country (Jordan). In fact, the participating countries are almost exclusively Western, except for some developed Southeast Asian countries and a few in Latin American. Thus, it would not surprise me at all that Qatar would fair poorly in comparison to what are overwhelmingly Western countries and in fact, this only reinforces Sheikha Mouza's decision to bring Western education to Qatar.

Rather than seize this as an opportunity to imply that Qatar is floundering, one should note that the participation in and results of the study show that Qatari leaders know what they are up against and are doing soemthing about it.

Everyone says Dubai has done a lot in term of diversification. But Dubai is the hub of regional business. So when the rest of the region is affected, wouldn't Dubai be affected as well?

Sheikha Mouza has done a lot to set up a great infrastucture for education, kudos to her. Her faith and determination in investing in education shows great vision.

However, what is to motivate the vast majority of Qatari youth to use all this infrastructure? An average Qatari today can have more than a decent life without ever going to school, the Government makes sure of that...

Hashin, Dubai has made sure that it remains the hub by developing the proper infrastructure. You have a valid point here about the lack of motivation for Qatari youth.

I would feel ashamed if I were involved in sending those kids to a test I priorly know they would be placed last in.

So would you rather they simply stay out of any assessment like the rest of the African, Latin American and Asian countries and continue to just flounder along comparing yourself to your substandard neighbors?

It's pretty clear you don't know a lot about education, Frog, so you might as well leave that brainstorming to others ;-))

Ignored
Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

vision for education then you either know something about educational theory, be willing to learn or at least be able to discuss it like an intelligent adult. After all, I thought you were interested in coming up with ideas about how to help make Qatar better, right? ;-() I don't see how that can happen if you want them to lag behind in education in order to prevent any hurt feelings. Education advancement requires a critical mind and the commitment to improve -- it's not for the emotionally weak or intellectually dull.

For those who may want to know more about the PISA survey :

http://www.oecd.org/...

The PISA survey, based on tests carried out in 2006 in 57 countries that together account for nearly 90% of world GDP , is the most comprehensive and rigorous international yardstick of secondary-school students' attainments. After focusing in 2000 on reading skills and in 2003 on mathematics, PISA 2006 tested students on how much they knew about science and their ability to use scientific knowledge and understanding to identify and address questions and resolve problems in daily life.

Commenting on the PISA survey, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría noted that it is a tool to assist governments in their policy choices on education. "In today's competitive global economy, quality education is one of the most valuable assets that a society and an individual can have," he said.

How competitive is Qatar now ?

Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

at least they are in the game. The same cannot be said for: the rest of the Arab countries except for Jordan ;-)

I remember reading an article about a new solar power plant that had opened, somewhere in europe some months back. It was all in testing phase of course, but people are hopeful of long-term operations and stuff. The potential in this part of the world for something like that is huge, but I doubt anyone'll take the initiative for it.

when they are AT LEAST trying to improve, you should be really prepared to analyze the material critically, Frog. That is all I am doing. You see, in research such as this who participates is only one part of the equation. In that group, Qatar came in near the bottom. BUT, when you consider all those OTHER countries who didn't even ENTER the study, then you might view Qatar in a different light.

I see Qatar as a country that is trying to improve its education. Unfortunately it would appear that the vast majority of other Arab countries are not doing that. What do you think?

And btw, I was never less than clean, frog. I don't curse and I didn't call you names. But I do challenge your statements. You don't mind that, do you?

Aviduser,

"To be honest though I don't think it will take that long for here and Dubai to start shrinking and become Ghost towns.

"More and more people are leaving here and Dubai due to the expense, less people are joining as they now have access to more information like this forum where we tell people the truth about the place"

Though I agree with many things you said about Qatar and Dubai, I don't think the statements above are based on any statistics

You can have alook on another thread on :

http://www.qatarlivi...

According to a demographic expert, the number of people arriving in Qatar for jobs and business purposes has been increasing steadily over the last couple of years.

Referring to the November figure of people undergoing tests at the Medical Commission, he said the number of fresh arrivals during the month was about 5% of Qatar’s population, which is estimated to be about 900,000.

Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

I was giving facts and statistics , and If anyone is willing to discuss the issue I would appreciate accurate responses . If you think Qatar is competitive and has a high standard of Education, why don't you give us some figures and facts ?
Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

an international standard. I am only pointing out the obvious -- that the rest of the Arab world has not participated in this test of such international importance. So if it is so important that you feel the need to highlight its result and in fact, even suggest that HH should not have had the students participate because of the possibility they might perform poorly, then it is equally legitimate for me to point out that the rest of the Arab world isn't even IN this important global arena.

You are the one who got all emotional when I pointed out that your own country wasn't included in the study. I simply stated a fact and you started using a euphamism for feces. I never used language like that, frog.

Now, shall we explore other international research and assessment relating to education and see where the Arab countries come in? I actually hope that they fare well because I don't like to see any nation intellectually undeveloped, but I suspect if they really were upholding high standards in the global arena then they wouldn't be importing so many American and British educational facilities, n'est-ce pas?

has a literacy initiative in the Arab countries:

Arab Countries meet in Rabat to accelerate literacy

© UNESCO/ Hany Ali Ahmed

At an Egyptian Literacy Centre for girls and women

03-12-2007 - Egypt, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan and Yemen are participating in a regional meeting on UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) from 3 to 6 December in Marrakech, Morocco.

A ten-year initiative within the United Nations Literacy Decade, LIFE aims to accelerate literacy efforts 35 selected countries by 2015. LIFE was launched in the Arab countries at the first regional LIFE meeting in Sana’a, Yemen in March 2006. Among other activities, this second meeting will review progress and discuss a refined LIFE implementation strategy as well as analyzing innovative approaches to literacy and non-formal education.

Two other regional LIFE meetings are planned for early 2008 in the Asia and Pacific Region (Dhaka, 21-24 January 2008) and in the African region (Maputo, 29-31 January 2008).

From what I can gather, it seems that this litracy drive is aimed at the Arab, Asian and Pacific countries and as we know literacy is fundamental to any educational development and achievement. Of course, this is just one initiative...

and they place Qatar 3rd among the Arab countries in literacy.

That said, Qatar has a way to go in terms of improvement and al hamdulillah under the leadership of HH the Emir and HH Sheikha Mouza, they realize this and are doing something about it.

;-)

what HH the Emir and HH Sheikha Mouza are doing is right. Educate, educate, educate...because, without a solid basis behind the next generation, nothing will be accomplished. No one can rest on their laurels and wait for something to be handed to them...so if they are taught to depend upon themselves and use their own brain power..no telling what Qatar can accomplish..even if they do run out of oil/gas.

e.g. Texas A&M University (tamu) in Qatar charges double fees from sponsored students. I still wanna know what is the logic behind this.
Its like freakin double fees structure. You are sponsored, and as the Government is gonna pay your fees so we will be better off by charging the Government double fee. Hell why not triple fee, why not quadruple fee.?

who is 19 and very upset with his OWN school system for failing him to achieve what he deems necessary for his high education...what the Emir and HH are doing is right. Like anything else, it takes time to evualate where the shortages are in the education system. This country is a new level of growth...the high education is still in the infancy stage and the country is just now learning the shortcoming in their primary and secondary levels. These are being adjusted and accredited now. Like anything else worth while...it takes time.

ask the financial department there, instead of spreading half truths on here..

Once again..you have NOT done the correct research...when WILL you learn??? Think twice, type once..

Students doing drugs, dropping out of schools, bunking classes, bringing guns in the school and they blame the system.

Did the system tell you to drop out of schools? Nah , you were the most sensitive one in the whole class and the system didnt recognize your potential, so you dropped out. The rest just kept on studying.

Even in the first year of my university more than 30% dropped out. They couldnt cope with the stress and sleepless nights. The assignments were killing, Its a natural evolution process. Not everyone can become a rocket scientist. The problem here is that everyone wants to be a manager and leave the rest to expatriates.

You are worrying me....

I am assuming Iraq was not in the statistics because it was based on figures gathered in 2005 and it would have been next to impossible to get any figures at that point.

Comoros Island is off the East Coast of Africa.

just in the business to teach Knox to USE his education to get correct facts about a university before posting idiotic half truths on here...especially when he knows others who have more information on such subjects.

The negative attitude towards the development we are witnessing and feeling is not a healthy way of dealing with this issue. The government is giving great attention to human development. Knowing that the education system is inappropriate and trying to improve it reflects a realistic thinking. Qatar did make solid steps towards human development by establshing the Supreme Education Councel and Education City, hence covering the education cycle from elementary schools to graduate studies. Results are not stunning, yet continuous assessment and improvement is and ongoing task to cover the gaps and whatever shortcomings that might arise. Good examples are coming out npw and now we can see the fruits of such efforts.
Making arrangement with the best American univeristies to establish campuses in Doha reflects the seriousness and insistance of he decision makers towards human development. They know that an investment in human resources pays back and is the right investment for the future.
Besides, the government did give consideration to invest in exaptriates and students from abroad who are joining the universities here and are financed generously by Qatar Foundation. Every year an increasing number of students are joining the universities here, whether they are Qataries of from abroad.
Added to the above, Qatar is continuously diversifying its investments. Let aside the ongoing conferences and workshops arranged here, studies requested to improve and diversify the economy.
So, wish somebody would tell me what is wrong with this approach and how can things be better. It is not enough just to sit back and criticize.

a speech during the dedication of the Engineering building..that the trend is beginning to be toward educating the young people of Qatar and taking them in business on their credits, NOT their wasta...that is the goal for the future of Qatar. The government realizes they they have to change the past history and make the next generation accountable for running the country.

Most if not all universities here charge sponsored students double what they charge individuals. Simply because fees are subsidized for individuals who cannot afford the normal fees, where as major companies who sponsor students can afford to pay the normal fees.

I am gonna post some really interesting stuff here. You'd love it. I am in no mood to create another thread