Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, Founder and Chairperson of Teach For Qatar (TFQ); and Jakob Thomasen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Maersk Oil, recently met in Doha to formalize a strategic partnership between the two entities.

The agreement saw Maersk become the first company to see one of its young professionals undertake a secondment with TFQ as a teaching Fellow. The young Qatari professional is Engineer Mohammad Al Janahi, who joined TFQ’s 2014 cohort of Fellows, earlier this year, for a two-year teaching commitment at an independent school in Doha.

Inaugurated in the presence of Lewis Affleck, Managing Director of Maersk Oil Qatar; Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad Al-Thani, Deputy Managing Director of Maersk Oil Qatar; Mohammed Fakhroo, Chief Executive Officer of Teach For Qatar; and Al Anoud Darwish, Chief Development Officer of Teach For Qatar, this partnership is a result of the commitment of both parties to close the education gap in Qatar, by contributing to the development of the independent school system.

TFQ is a local NGO working tirelessly to provide solutions to the education challenges facing Qatar’s students. Accordingly, it introduces exceptionally talented leaders into the independent school system in Qatar by providing graduates and young professionals, who wish to give back to Qatar - whether nationals or residents, the opportunity to inspire students through a two-year teaching placement.

This year, TFQ took the first step in tackling Qatar’s educational challenges by placing the first cohort of hand-picked Fellows into independent schools across the country.

“Teach For Qatar, alongside our partners, continues to seek young people, academic achievers, and talented professionals to become transformational leaders in the classroom and the community,” said H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad. “Our partnership with Maersk Oil Qatar will no doubt enable TFQ to continue to inspire talented young professionals, who will be part of the solution to the challenges facing Qatar’s students. We also look forward to establishing new collaborative agreements with companies seeking to support our mission, to bridge the educational gap in Qatar, by providing TFQ with access to their talent pools for secondment on a two-year teaching placement.”

Thanking Maersk Oil Qatar and TFQ for facilitating his secondment Eng. Al Janahi, said: “My conviction in the need to help develop and improve Qatar’s education system is what initially motivated me to join the TFQ Fellowship. I believe my skills and abilities will not only allow me to give back to my country and community, but the fact that I am able to do this due to the dedication of both Maersk and TFQ who have made giving back to the community a top priority makes me very proud indeed.”

Commenting on the partnership, Jakob Thomasen, CEO of Maersk Oil, said: “Since first producing oil at Qatar’s offshore Al Shaheen field twenty years ago, Maersk Oil Qatar has been committed to supporting the country’s astonishing growth and development. We are delighted to commit to the development of future leaders through our engineers’ experience and expertise that will help students learn, by sharing best practice knowledge acquired through developing one of the world’s most complex offshore oil fields.”

“Maersk Oil is committed to making a broader contribution to Qatar’s 2030 Vision and sustainable development goals. Our social investment activities are focused on quality partnership programmes that can and will make a real and lasting impact on the lives of people in Qatar, and we believe that the Teach For Qatar programme is doing just that,” he added.

Maersk Oil Qatar is the newest member of the TFQ family and joins the Supreme Education Council, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Qatar. Welcoming Maersk Oil Qatar onboard, Mohammed Fakhroo, CEO of Teach For Qatar, said: “TFQ’s goals are aligned with the strategic aims of Maersk Oil Qatar to reinstate nationwide respect for the teaching discipline. TFQ therefore works tirelessly to recruit Qatar’s top talent to join us as Fellows, which will no doubt have a tremendously positive impact on Qatar’s future generations, and we are grateful for the continued commitment of our various supporters.”

For more information about Teach For Qatar, please visit: www.teachforqatar.org

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