By Elena Diaz-Castro
In its constant pursuit of excellence, the Philippine School Doha has recently achieved its three-year accreditation granted by Qatar National School Accreditation (QNSA).
In the certificate sent by the School Evaluation Department of the Evaluation Affairs Sector of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), the government agency attests to the QNSA accreditation for the school’s Primary, Preparatory and Secondary Stages.
Furthermore, the certificate reads, “For its commitment to the vision of achieving the principles of the educational system in Qatar, towards consistent school improvement, and quality assurance.” The document was signed by the Assistant Undersecretary for Evaluation Affairs, Khalid Abdulla Al-Harqan.
Dr.Lorina S. Villanueva, Vice Principal of the Research Development, Accreditation and Publication Office (RDAPO) said that such accreditation is a requirement to all schools in Qatar by the MOEHE.
When asked about how the re-application process of such accreditation was, Villanueva enumerated the steps that the school took included the creation of committees that would look into the areas of inspection adhering to the standards of QNSA, analysis of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, plans of actions to withstand the weaknesses, implementation of those actions or strategies to adhere to the standards, and providing supporting pieces of evidence of the best practices for review of the accreditation team.
“We are aiming for a five-year accreditation, but we are still happy that with the stringent process of school review, we still made it to a three-year accreditation, thereby providing us with more room for improvement.”, Villanueva revealed.
School Principal Dr. Alexander S. Acosta was beaming with pride as he said, “QNSA has become our barometer of why the school maintains its philosophy of service and excellence. Its tedious scrutiny of evidence always reminds us to deliver the best education to our students in different educational platforms may it be traditional or blended learning mode.”
He also reiterated that the school’s three-year accreditation grant from QNSA will serve as our inspiration to aspire for what is best for our students, staff, and parents and at the same time as our direction to where the school is heading to in attaining its vision and mission that is to make each student a LEARNER.
Acosta added, “My profound gratitude to the entire PSD staff and stake holders especially to the QNSA Team, The Board of Trustees headed by Engr. Josel Leanda, and to the parents and PTA officials who were significant instruments in achieving this three-year accreditation. Indeed, we find the true meaning of interdependence and cooperation in its real sense of the word.”
It can be noted that PSD has been accredited by the QNSA since 2015, and has continually safeguarded the quality standards of the institution and the best interests of its stakeholders, including its potential enrollees and employees by ensuring that its policies, educational programs and employee benefit package meet or even exceed the level of standards set by the experts in education.